Insights

Green power for data centres: what the rules require

Germany, Europe’s largest data-centre market, requires its data centres by law to run on renewable power. What applies today, what is changing and why demand for green power is rising either way.

Analysis, 19 October 2026, 5 minute read

What applies today

Since 1 January 2024, data-centre operators in Germany have had to cover half of their electricity consumption with renewable power on an annual balance. That is set out in section 11(5) of the Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG). Under current law, the quota rises to 100 per cent on 1 January 2027.

Efficiency rules apply too. Data centres entering operation from 1 July 2026 must reach a PUE of 1.2 or better and make part of their waste heat usable: 10 per cent at first, rising to 20 per cent for facilities from mid-2028.

What is changing

On 24 June 2026 the German cabinet adopted an amendment. It would move the deadline for full green-power supply back three years, to 1 January 2030, with the 50 per cent quota continuing until then. Efficiency rules for existing data centres would also be eased.

The Bundestag held a first reading on 24 September 2026, followed by a committee hearing on 5 October. Until the amendment is enacted, current law and the 2027 deadline apply.

For investors, direction matters more than the date: the 100 per cent requirement itself remains in the draft. The only open question is whether it takes full effect in 2027 or 2030.

Why demand keeps rising

At the same time, the German government wants to expand the country’s data-centre base significantly. Under its data-centre strategy of March 2026, capacity is to at least double by 2030. Connected capacity for AI data centres is to at least quadruple from 2025, from around 500 megawatts to around 2 gigawatts. In 2025, total connected IT capacity in German data centres stood at 2,980 megawatts.

Beyond Germany, data-centre electricity use is set to more than double worldwide by 2030, according to the International Energy Agency. And under the EU Energy Efficiency Directive, every data centre with 500 kilowatts or more of IT capacity must publish its energy use and renewable share each year. More data centres, under growing pressure to go green: that is a demand for renewable power that grows with every new site.

Certificate or supply contract

The requirement applies on an annual balance, so the power does not have to come physically from sun and wind in every hour. Operators can meet it with guarantees of origin or through long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs).

Guarantees of origin are quick to buy, but they secure neither a price nor supply. A PPA with a specific solar or wind park does both, often for ten years or more. For operators whose costs depend heavily on power, that is a real planning advantage. Germany’s data-centre strategy also names long-term PPA models as a topic for dialogue between the data-centre and energy industries.

What this means for Trustvolt

Trustvolt develops solar and wind parks with large-scale storage and sells the power to data centres on long-term contracts, across Europe. Regulation like Germany’s creates dependable demand for this model, whether it takes full effect in 2027 or 2030.