The Spanish government is reportedly planning to implement stricter water, energy and cybersecurity requirements for data centres as the country faces a surge in AI infrastructure projects, with a draft decree set to be published.
Reuters reported under the planned rules, operators would need to be established in the European Union (EU) and data and metadata handled by their facilities would be required to remain within the region. The proposals also include controls on access from third countries, with tougher requirements for facilities handling public sector or national security data.
Meanwhile, water and energy efficiency requirements would reportedly need to meet the highest levels proposed under an EU sustainability label for data centres. Renewable energy sources would have to account for at least 80% of a facility’s energy supply in every hour of operation.
In addition, every new megawatt of power consumed would have to be matched by a new megawatt of renewable generation installed within the previous 18 months. This could be provided through long-term contracts or locally installed renewable facilities.
Operators failing to meet the requirements could face sanctions including losing their right to connect to the power grid.
Sources told Reuters the rules would apply to AI facilities requiring more than 1 megawatt of power capacity that have not yet connected to the grid. Projects already in the permitting process would have six months to comply or surrender their connection rights without sanctions.
EU push
Spain has attracted billions of euros in data centre investment from major cloud and technology players, including AWS, Microsoft and Meta Platforms, as demand for AI and cloud infrastructure accelerates. The government explained the volume of upcoming projects gives it scope to select developments based on sustainability and cybersecurity criteria.
Across the bloc, the European Commission has also made a major push around digital sovereignty, which includes a new Cloud and AI development Act unveiled in June designed to aid the buildout of new data centres and streamline conditions for deploying facilities across the EU.
It has an aim to triple the region’s data centre capacity in the next five to seven years. However, with such activity in the space, AI infrastructure projects are in turn facing mounting governmental scrutiny over concerns about power and water consumption.
Source: Mobile World Live
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