Spain is preparing new requirements for data centres as the country sees a rapid increase in projects linked to artificial intelligence infrastructure. Government sources said a draft decree with stricter rules on water use, energy efficiency and cybersecurity will be opened for public consultation this week.
Spain has become one of Europe’s key data centre hubs because of its renewable energy availability and large areas of available land. Projects connected to AI infrastructure worth tens of billions of euros are being planned across the country.
The government believes the growing number of projects gives Spain an opportunity to select facilities that offer stronger efficiency, sustainability and cybersecurity standards.
Under the proposed rules, data centre operators would need to be established within the European Union. The data and metadata they handle would also have to remain within the EU, with controls on access from third countries.
Stricter requirements would apply to facilities handling data belonging to public entities or those connected to national security.
The proposed water and energy standards would match the highest efficiency level expected under an EU sustainability label currently being developed for data centres.
The government also plans to introduce renewable energy requirements similar to those used for green hydrogen projects. Renewable sources would need to provide at least 80% of a data centre’s energy supply for every hour of operation.
In addition, every new megawatt of electricity used by a facility would need to be matched by 1 new megawatt of renewable energy capacity installed within the previous 18 months. This could be achieved through long-term energy contracts or locally installed renewable facilities.
Non-compliance could result in sanctions, including the loss of the right to connect to the power grid, according to the sources.
The proposed rules would cover data centres with more than 1 megawatt of power capacity that are not yet connected to the grid.
Projects already undergoing the permitting process would receive 6 months to meet the new requirements. Those that fail to comply would have to give up their grid connection rights without sanctions.
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