Data centres are one of the sectors with the biggest growth in energy demand. The impact assessment (SWD(2021) 623 final) of the new Energy Efficiency Directive (EED, (EU)2023/1791) estimated that the energy consumption of data centres was about 77 TWh in 2018 (i.e. 2.7% of the EU electricity demand), representing an increase by 42% vs. 2010. The assessment expected an increase by 28% by 2030 (about 98 TWh, i.e. 3.2% of the EU electricity demand). 

The sector has already made large energy efficiency improvements that partly compensated for this growth until now. However, the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications accelerates the increase in electricity demand. +12% per year over the last five years in the electricity consumption from data centres worldwide, according to the IEA. 

This growing energy demand from data centres has been identified among key challenges to be addressed in the new EED, which introduced a new Article 12, focused on data centres. It requires Member States to monitor the energy performance of data centres with a power demand of 500 kW or more, and set the legal basis for possible minimum performance standards for data centres. 

This ninth dialogue meeting of streamSAVE+ will complement the dialogue meeting done in June 2025 on this topic by presenting the new streamSAVE+ methodologies for calculating energy savings in data centres. Findings from the latest assessment of the energy performance and sustainability of data centres in the EU will put the topic into perspective, both in terms of data issues and trends.