24SEP

EU grades data centres from A to G

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The European Commission adopted a delegated regulation creating an A-to-G sustainability rating scheme for data centres above 500 kW, with the first labels due in 2027.

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IndustryAssessed

Key takeaway

EU data centres above 500 kW are due to carry A-to-G sustainability labels from 2027.

The European Commission adopted a delegated regulation on 21 September creating an EU rating scheme for data centres above 500 kW of computing power⁠¹. A delegated regulation is a rule the Commission writes under powers an existing EU law grants it, which the European Parliament and the Council of the EU can veto. The scheme grades energy and water efficiency on A to G classes, alongside energy sourcing, grid flexibility and waste-heat reuse⁠².

Parliament and Council have two months to object, and the first labels are due in 2027. Spain's draft data-centre decree already defers to the scheme: Madrid's own efficiency limits hold only until the EU assigns its Class A⁠³. Singapore took a different route in May, writing an efficiency ceiling into national policy; the EU scheme instead ranks every covered site on one public scale.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

The European Commission adopted rules that will give data centres above 500 kilowatts of computing power an energy-efficiency rating from A to G, the same style of label already used on household appliances and buildings. The European Parliament and Council have two months to object before it becomes final. The first labels are not expected until 2027, so this is groundwork now for a rating system that will let customers and regulators compare data centres' efficiency at a glance later.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

The EU already runs A-to-G energy ratings for buildings and appliances; extending the same letter-grade format to data centres lets Brussels reuse a labelling system consumers and regulators already understand, rather than inventing new technical benchmarks the market would need to learn from scratch.

Sources:European Commission·Presidencia da Republica (Casa Civil)

Mentions:European Commission →European Parliament →Parliament →Singapore →Madrid →Spain →European Union →

First Reported In

Update #15 · Texas freezes data-centre permits

European Commission· 24 Sept 2026

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Different Perspectives

Chilean data-centre developers

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An Coimisiun Pleanala

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Housing Assembly and Foxglove

The two groups' 6 August appeal, filed through the Legal Resources Centre, kept Cape Town's approval of Equinix's data centre suspended through this window over missing water, emissions, noise and diesel-generator data. Deputy Mayor Eddie Andrews confirmed on 20-21 September that the suspension holds.

Brazil (President Lula, signing Redata)

Lula signed Lei 15.504 on 15 September, creating the Redata tax programme and keeping the Senate's water cap with no veto, while Aneel authorised Scala's AI City to join the national grid from January 2028. Brazil is recruiting capacity other markets are now turning away.

Aragon regional government (Eva Valle)

Aragon's economy chief Eva Valle said on 11 September that Spain's draft decree, requiring 80% hourly-matched renewables via a 10-year power-purchase agreement, is unmeetable by any project and threatens Blackstone, Azora and Microsoft builds already under way. Aragon holds 3,600 MW of granted grid access against 108 MW built.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott

Abbott ordered TCEQ on 21 September to halt every pending data-centre permit until projects pay their own way and complete ERCOT and Texas Water Development Board audits. Texas built the country's most permissive data-centre market; freezing it signals even that market has hit its grid limit.