New reporting requirements for data center operators introduced by the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364

The IT&C sector is consuming more and more energy, and data centers are expected to account for 3.2% of the EU’s total electricity demand by 2030, a 28% increase compared to 2018, according to data cited by the European Commission. To adapt to this new reality, the Commission adopted in March 2024 the Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 on the first phase of the establishment of a common Union rating scheme for data centres. This regulation implements the Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) No. 2023/1791 and also lays the groundwork for benchmarking the sustainability of data centers in the European Union, based on a common measurement and calculation methodology.

The Delegated Regulation  details the key energy performance indicators (“KPIs”) that data center operators with an IT&C energy demand of at least 500 kW must report to the “European database on data centers.” It also outlines the calculation methods, reporting procedures, and the extent to which this information will be made public.

What does this mean for data center operators? In this article, we tried to provide some answers to their questions.

1. Who is required to report?

As previously mentioned, the Delegated Regulation applies to data center operators with an installed IT energy demand of at least 500 kW. These operators must report to the European database the information and key performance indicators (KPIs) specified in Annexes I and II of the Delegated Act for each data center they operate. The regulation also defines the types of data centers subject to these requirements:

• “Enterprise data center”: A data center operated by a company solely for the purpose of providing and managing its own IT needs.
• “Colocation data center”: A data center where one or more customers install and manage their own networks, servers, and storage equipment and services.
• “Multi-tenant hosting data center”: A data center where one or more customers have access to networks, servers, and storage equipment on which they operate their own services and applications. In this case, both the IT equipment and the building’s support infrastructure are provided as a service by the data center operator.

2. What do data center operators report?

The information and key performance indicators that must be reported to the European database are listed in the Annexes of the Delegated Act.

Annex I

On the one hand, there is the information about the reporting data center:

• Data center name: The name used to identify and describe the data center
• Owner and operator of the data center, including the name and contact details of both
• Location of the data center: The local administrative unit code (LAU code) of the data center’s location.
• Type of data center: Corresponds to the primary operation of the data center (see above).
• Year and month of commissioning: The calendar year and month when the reporting data center began providing IT services.

Secondly, there is information about the operation of the reporting data center:

• Redundancy level of the electrical infrastructure at high-voltage level/low-voltage (line) level/rack level.
• Redundancy level of the cooling infrastructure at room level/rack level.

Annex II

Annex II lists the key performance indicators that must be monitored, collected, and reported to the European database, as well as the measurement methodologies.

Energy and sustainability indicators:

• Installed IT power demand („PD_IT”, în kW)
• Data centre total floor area(‘S_DC’, in square metres).
• Data centre computer room floor area(‘S_CR’, in square metres).
• Total energy consumption(‘E_DC’, in kWh) of the reporting data center
• Total energy consumption of information technology equipment(‘E_IT’, in kWh)
• Electrical grid functions
• Average battery capacity (‘C_BtG’, in kW)
• Total water input(‘W_IN’, in cubic metres)
• Total potable water input(‘W_IN-POT’, in cubic metres)
• Waste heat reused(‘E_REUSE’, in kWh)
• Average waste heat temperature(‘T_WH’, in degree Celsius)
• Average setpoint information technology equipment intake air temperature(‘T_IN’, in degree Celsius)
• Types of refrigerants used in cooling and air-conditioning equipment within the computer room floor area of the data center
• Cooling degree days (“CDD”, in degree-days)
• Total renewable energy consumption(‘E_RES-TOT’, in kWh)
• Total renewable energy consumption from Guarantees of Origin(‘E_RES-GOO’, in kWh)
• Total renewable energy consumption from Power Purchasing Agreements(‘E_RES-PPA’, in kWh)
• Total renewable energy consumption from on-site renewables(‘E_RES-OS’, in kWh)

ICT Capacity Indicators:

• ICT capacity for servers(‘C_SERV’)
• ICT capacity for storage equipment(‘C_STOR’, in petabytes)

Data Traffic Indicators:

• Incoming traffic bandwidth(‘B_IN’, in gigabytes per second)
• Outgoing traffic bandwidth(‘B_OUT’, in gigabytes per second)
• Incoming data traffic(‘T_IN’, in exabytes)
• Outgoing data traffic(‘T_OUT’, in exabytes)

Annex III

Annex III lists the sustainability indicators that must be calculated for each data center based on the information and key performance indicators from Annexes I and II, along with the calculation methodologies.

• Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE)

E_DC and E_IT, as both defined in Annex II, shall be used to calculate the PUE of a data centre: PUE = E_DC/E_IT;

• Water Usage Effectiveness (WUE)

W_IN, as defined in Annex III and E_IT, as defined in Annex II but expressed in MWh, shall be used to calculate the WUE of a data centre: WUE = W_IN/E_IT;

• Energy Reuse Factor (ERF)

E_REUSE and E_DC, as both defined in Annex II, shall be used to calculate the ERF of a data centre: ERF = E_REUSE/E_DC;

• Renewable Energy Factor (REF)

E_RES-TOT and E_DC, as both defined in Annex II, shall be used to calculate the REF of a data centre: REF = E_RES-TOT/E_DC.

3. Annex IV. Who has access to information and what data will be publicly available?

Annex IV lists the information available to the public in the European database on data centers. At both the national (member state) level and the European Union level, the following data will be made available:

• Total number of reporting data centers
• Distribution of data centers by size categories
• Total installed power for information technology (PDIT)
• Total energy consumption (EDC)
• Total water consumption (WIN)
• Average PUE – total, by type, and by size category
• Average WUE – total, by type, and by size category
• Average ERF – total, by type, and by size category
• Average REF – total, by type, and by size category

Annex IV also lists the size categories for reporting data centers, based on the installed power for information technology of the data center:

• Very small data center: 100-500 kW
• Small data center: 500-1,000 kW
• Medium data center: 1-2 MW
• Large data center: 2-10 MW
• Very large data center: > 10 MW

The Delegated Regulation allows only the disclosure of data from Annex IV, aggregated at the member state and EU level. The Commission and member states will maintain the confidentiality of information from Annexes I and II. If information is transmitted through national reporting systems, member state authorities will ensure its confidentiality. Furthermore, colocation data center operators may collect KPIs from Annex II from their clients through an anonymous internal mechanism.

4. How to report. Deadlines

The Regulation requires the reporting of data from the Annexes by September 15, 2024, then by May 15, 2025, and subsequently on an annual basis. Therefore, less than two months remain until the next reporting deadline. The communication of information will be made to the European database using a national reporting system that each member state must implement. The information and key performance indicators to be reported must cover the calendar year preceding the reporting year. If a data center has been operational for less than a year, the operator will report only for the respective operational period. Unfortunately, only a few of the member states that have transposed the EED into national legislation have established a national reporting system – among these are Germany and Austria.

Visit this link to read the full text of Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364.

The Delegated Regulation is not the only sustainability regulation targeting the data center industry. For example, the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)  requires organizations to report ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives, including third-party greenhouse gas emissions. This means that data centers may be required to report their own emissions and provide customers with details about their carbon footprint. The Taxonomy Climate Delegated Act  establishes criteria for evaluating economic activities that contribute to the European Union’s climate objectives.

The European Union is committed to achieving climate neutrality by 2050, and data centers are increasingly subject to sustainability regulations. We anticipate these regulations will allow the data center industry to leverage sustainability as a strategic advantage and a catalyst for innovation.