German Energy Efficiency Act
The German Energy Efficiency Act is a federal law intended to reduce energy consumption through more efficient use. It sets national savings targets and duties for energy users, including operators of data centers. For these facilities, the rules cover operating efficiency, energy management and information needed to measure consumption.
Banks are affected when they operate their own data centers or obtain computing services from another company. Operators need to identify the duties that apply to their facilities and document relevant energy data. Banks using rented infrastructure can use those figures to assess suppliers and support their sustainability and risk reporting.
PUE limits, waste heat and green power
Power usage effectiveness (PUE) is the ratio of a data center's total energy use to the energy used by its IT equipment. Under section 11 (in German), data centers that started operating before 1 July 2026 must reach a PUE of 1.5 or better from 1 July 2027 and 1.3 from 1 July 2030. Data centers that start operating later must reach 1.2 and reuse a share of their energy as heat: at least 10 percent for those opening from 1 July 2026, rising to 15 and 20 percent for later openings. The German average PUE was about 1.7, as A&O Shearman noted when the law passed.
Electricity must come from renewable sources: half of it since 1 January 2024 and all of it from 1 January 2027.
Management systems and reporting
Under section 12 (in German), operators had to set up an energy or environmental management system by 1 July 2025. From 1 January 2026 it must be validated or certified for data centers from 1 megawatt, or from 300 kilowatts for those owned by public bodies. Operators report their energy data to a federal register every year by 31 March, under section 13 (in German).
For a bank's outsourcing file this means measurable figures. The provider can show PUE, the share of green electricity and reused heat per site, and the bank can compare them across providers and use them in its ESG reporting, see ESG risk management in banks.
The 2026 reform draft
In January 2026 a leaked draft bill showed that the governing coalition was considering changes. According to Pinsent Masons, an operator could meet the PUE limit by showing that the site was designed to reach it at 80 percent or more of its maximum computing load, and the waste heat duty would not apply where no reasonable district heating connection exists within five kilometers. Until a reform is passed, the current text applies.
Upcoming events on digital infrastructure
What is the German Energy Efficiency Act?
The German Energy Efficiency Act is the federal law to increase energy efficiency in Germany, in force since November 2023. Besides national savings targets and duties for large energy users, it sets the first binding efficiency limits for data centers in Germany.
Which data centers fall under the act?
The act covers data centers with a non-redundant connected load of 300 kilowatts or more (in German). Companies that run their own IT in someone else's colocation center have reporting and information duties from 50 kilowatts.
The German Energy Efficiency Act and Finance Loop
Finance Loop connects the IT and sustainability teams of banks with data center operators in its Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty track, from Frankfurt, the largest data center market in Germany. Finance Loop offers operators a sponsored meetup to show banks their efficiency figures site by site.
Finance Loop is a professional network supporting the institutional use of emerging technologies in finance, such as AI, digital payments, cloud and blockchain solutions. Finance Loop helps its members build skills and personal networks in these fields: Investment & Digital Assets, Payments & Digital Money, Digital Infrastructure & Sovereignty, and Risk & Compliance.