August 28, 2026, 14:58 GMT | Insight
The
European Commission will incorporate plans to expand AI and data-center capacity into its energy strategy, seeking to limit pressure on electricity bills and constrained grids. Brussels is developing voluntary agreements between data-center operators, energy companies and public authorities, but experts warn that power-intensive AI clusters require different treatment from conventional data centers.
Europe’s efforts to boost its AI industry by building up data center capacity will be included in its plan for integrating data centers into electric grids, which aims to ensure Europeans do not face high electricity bills in the future, the European Commission clarified
on Thursday.
The commission hopes to support the continent’s cloud and AI industry and reduce its reliance on non-European suppliers and companies by tripling computing capacity over the next five to seven years through new data centers. The plan is part of the the AI Gigafactories initiative and the Cloud and AI Development Act, or CADA.
The project, however, is already sparking concern over possible hikes in electricity prices, grid congestion, and sustainability issues that could spark backlash against data centers similar to what the US has seen (see
here).
Brussels announced in June that it was developing a model for voluntary three-side agreements between data-center operators, the energy industry, and public authorities to support grid integration, clean-energy supply, and energy efficiency (see
here). The initative will complement the AI gigafactory project and Europe's other AI data center plans, European Commissioner for energy Dan Jørgensen explained this week in a response to a question submitted to the
European Parliament.
"The Commission is working with energy and digital industries to develop a model tripartite agreement for the sustainable integration of data centers," he said.
The commission also aims to introduce an EU rating system for data centers covering energy and water efficiency, clean-energy use and other factors.
Experts, however, point out that building up data centers specifically for AI may be more complex than current data centers. Large AI compute clusters, including future AI gigafactories, generate concentrated energy demands of hundreds of megawatts at a single site, according to Maria Nowicka, policy researcher at Berlin-based think tank
Interface.
“An important gap persists here: The Commission still treats AI clusters in the same way as conventional data centers,” said Nowicka. “As long as that distinction is not built into the newest policies, it remains legitimate to ask how prepared Europe is to accommodate AI data centers on already constrained grids.”
The EU launched a tender
in July to build up to seven AI gigafactories, with construction expected to start in 2027 (see
here). The Cloud and AI Development Act, which aims to support the build-up of data center, cloud and computing capacity,
doesn't distinguish between conventional and AI-focused data centers when addressing their very different effects on electricity grids.
The commission expects to develop a model for the three-sided agreement for the sustainable integration of data centers into the grid later this year and may also consider new legislation to integrate data centers into the EU energy system. Fourteen EU industry associations have agreed to cooperate on developing the three-part framework.
Some EU member states, however, are already approaching the arrival of new data centers with skepticism.
Last week, Denmark announced an emergency grid law placing large data centers at the bottom of the priority list for power connections. Spain is also mulling
stricter renewable energy requirements for data centers.
“Measures like speeding up permitting don't really address the central question of how AI data centers can effectively become assets to European grids, rather than just a burden,” added Nowicka.
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