New turn in the German rules for data center waste heat

The Energy Efficiency Act of 2023 made new German data centers send part of their waste heat to other users. Operators told that the rule made it almost not possible to make a data center there.

In June, one month before it was to start, the German government removed the primary duty of a rule for new data centers. The rule made them send part of their waste heat to other users. In the amended bill, which goes to parliament in a short time, operators must only check if it is possible. Patrick Graichen, who was a ministry official at that time, and other persons tell that the government gives up climate targets to get AI growth.

How it works

The law of 2023 made all new data centers send part of their waste heat to other users, for example to city heating systems near them. The amended bill removes this duty. Operators must only check if it is possible.

The numbers

Germany will make its data center fleet 2 times larger by 2030. It will also make 4 times more capacity for AI models. EU countries are committed to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 55 percent by the end of the decade. The source gives no number for the heat or for the projects that the rule stopped.

What is not known

The German economy ministry gave no comment. Operators tell that the duty can be not possible to do when no user for the heat is there. A user can be a city heating system or a greenhouse farm. Parliament did not vote on the bill at this time.

Insight: The heat rule needed a user that the operator did not control

The law of 2023 put the duty on operators, but heat use must have an external user. Barbara Smitten of Cundall tells that some duties were external to the control of operators. The amended bill removes the duty and not the missing user, which looks like Germany put fast AI growth first, not heat networks. Teams that make sites in Europe must find a heat user first.