While most countries do not have national rules in place specifically for data centres, there are a number of countries that have introduced such rules, including:

• rules on energy supply in China, France, Germany, Ireland, Japan, Singapore, Spain and the USA, and proposed in Brazil and the UK;
• rules on water usage in China and Singapore, and proposed in Brazil and France; and
• rules on permitting in Brazil, China, Italy, Singapore and the USA, and proposed in France and the UK

In addition, in a number of countries, rules have been introduced or are planned, either at a national or municipality level, that would prevent or restrict the new development of data centres. For example, de facto moratoria on data centre development were in place in Ireland and Singapore until recently, while the municipality of Amsterdam and a number of US states have introduced such moratoria.

In China and Norway, data centre operators are required to hold licences, and Australia and Singapore have proposed specific regulations to govern data centre deployment and operation.

Seven of the studied countries have established national strategies for data centre development, although the intention and scope of these strategies varies considerably.

Cullen International’s new benchmark provides insights into how 19 countries, including 13 in Europe, have introduced rules to incentivise and/or regulate the development of data centres, in particular covering topics such as:

• financial and other incentives;
• special procedures for permitting;
• preventing any distortion in the demand for energy;
• protecting local areas from over-consumption of water supplies; and
• examples of rules to prevent or restrict the further deployment of data centres.

Benchmark Scope
Region: Europe and global
Countries covered: 19 countries in total, 13 in Europe
Policy area: Sustainability, Environmental

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