Chapter 02 · Foundations

Regulatory Framework

Country-specific legal bases for data centre waste heat reuse. This chapter maps EU Directive 2023/1791 and Delegated Regulation 2024/1364 to the national transpositions in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Ireland, Italy, Spain, and the Nordics. For each member state it identifies the governing law, the competent authority, the thresholds, and the applicable deadlines.

Note

This overview is a working reference for operators and auditors. It does not replace legal counsel for specific filings. Where a text in your country diverges from our presentation, the national legal text prevails. Please report changed deadlines or new implementing regulations to /contact.

1. EU Baseline

Two legal acts form the common foundation: the recast Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2023/1791 and Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 of 14 March 2024.

1.1 Directive (EU) 2023/1791 (EED)

Article 12 requires member states to subject data centres with an installed IT capacity of 500 kW or above to annual reporting under a common European template. Article 26 establishes a general obligation to use waste heat in district heating and cooling networks and sets an annual increase of 2.2 percentage points of renewable and unavoidable waste heat until 2030. The transposition deadline expired on 11 October 2025.

1.2 Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364

The regulation operationalises Article 12. Annexes I and II contain the binding reporting template for floor area, IT load, energy consumption by source, renewable share, water consumption, battery capacity, reused waste heat, and grid services. The measurement basis is the Energy Reuse Factor per CEN/CENELEC EN 50600-4-6. Initial reporting was on 15 September 2024; subsequent reports are due annually by 15 May.

2. National Transpositions

The following sections summarise the transposition status in the member states relevant to Ardor. Status labels refer to platform coverage, not to the state of legislation.

🇩🇪Germany

Live

Legal Basis

Act	Energy Efficiency Act (Energieeffizienzgesetz, EnEfG), in force since 18 November 2023
Sections	Sections 11, 12, 16, 17 EnEfG
EU legal act	Transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/1791 and Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364

Competent Authority

Federal Office for Economic Affairs and Export Control (BAFA), Division 511 (Federal Energy Efficiency Centre, BfEE), Eschborn

Reporting Obligation

Data centres from 300 kW IT rated capacity (Section 13 EnEfG). Additional obligations from 500 kW (Section 17 EnEfG).

Reuse Obligation

Data centres from 1 MW: 10% Energy Reuse Factor (ERF) from 1 July 2026, 15% from 1 July 2027, 20% from 1 July 2028. Verification via the Data Centre Register and the Waste Heat Platform.

Deadlines

Annual report due by 31 March of the following year. Initial registration on the Waste Heat Platform was 1 January 2024; first ERF review by 31 March 2027.

Platform

Data Centre Register (BAFA) + Waste Heat Platform (BfEE). As of January 2025: 2,668 companies, 19,065 waste heat potentials, 160 TWh/year aggregated.

Ardor status: Ardor maintains 32 German sites with full EnEfG report generation.

🇫🇷France

Port in preparation

Legal Basis

Act	Loi n° 2025-391 du 30 avril 2025 (DDADUE)
Decree	Décret n° 2025-1382 du 29 décembre 2025
Codification	Art. L.236-2 Code de l'énergie

Competent Authority

Direction générale de l'énergie et du climat (DGEC), Ministère de la Transition écologique

Reporting Obligation

Data centres from 500 kW IT load. Annual public reporting on floor area, energy consumption, installed capacity, and waste heat reuse.

Reuse Obligation

Data centres from 1 MW must valorise waste heat via a heating or cooling network, achieve the numerical indicator of 0.20, or demonstrate a cost-benefit exemption.

Deadlines

Initial reporting was 15 May 2024; transposition compliance date was 11 October 2025. Subsequent reports due annually by 15 May.

Platform

National reporting to DGEC, supplemented by the EU database per Annex II of Delegated Regulation 2024/1364.

Ardor status: Ardor maintains 15 French sites. The port for Code de l'énergie, DGEC template, and French translation is in progress. District heating data from France Chaleur, Fonds Chaleur (ADEME), and SNCU are integrated.

🇳🇱Netherlands

Port in preparation

Legal Basis

Transposition	Transposition of Directive (EU) 2023/1791 via the RVO reporting procedure
Framework act	Omgevingswet (Environment and Planning Act, 2024)
Mandatory measures	Erkende Maatregelenlijst (Recognised Energy-Saving Measures List)

Competent Authority

Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland (RVO)

Reporting Obligation

Data centres from 500 kW IT load (EU basis). Additional audit obligation from 50,000 kWh/year electricity or 25,000 m³/year gas.

Reuse Obligation

Data centres from 1 MW: waste heat reuse or documented exemption (EU basis per Art. 26 EED).

Deadlines

Annual reporting by 15 May. A standalone data centre act has not yet been published; regulatory pressure is increasing following the 2026 leitmotiv audit (104 of approximately 160 data centres reported; several hyperscalers submitted blank forms).

Platform

RVO portal, feeding into the EU database.

Ardor status: Ardor maintains 20 Dutch sites. The Dutch Data Center Association is a potential channel partner. District heating data: Ennatuurlijk, Vattenfall NL, HVC, Stadsverwarming Purmerend, Eneco, and municipal utilities.

🇮🇪Ireland

Preliminary

Legal Basis

EED transposition	In preparation by the Interdepartmental Working Group
Regulation	CRU decision December 2025
Grid rules	EirGrid and ESB Networks rules due by end of March 2026

Competent Authority

Commission for Regulation of Utilities (CRU); additionally Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland (SEAI, monitoring)

Reporting Obligation

Data centres from 500 kW IT load (EU basis).

Reuse Obligation

New data centres must feed electricity back into the grid after six years and source 80% of consumption from renewables. Waste heat reuse is secondary due to weak district heating infrastructure; exemption on grounds of technical infeasibility is the norm.

Deadlines

Annual EED reporting from 15 May 2026. CRU implementation rules expected by end of March 2026.

Platform

gov.ie and SEAI monitoring.

Ardor status: Ardor positions itself for Ireland as a CRU compliance tool and evidence package for the waste heat exemption, not as a district heating platform.

🇮🇹Italy

Pending

Legal Basis

Status	Transposition deadline of 11 October 2025 missed
Draft	Decreto legislativo in public consultation
Additional framework	Decreto Energia 2025
Management system	ISO 50001 mandatory for enterprises above 85 TJ/year from 11 October 2027

Competent Authority

Expected to be MASE (Ministero dell'Ambiente e della Sicurezza Energetica) and GSE (Gestore dei Servizi Energetici)

Reporting Obligation

Data centres from 500 kW IT load from 15 May 2026 (EU basis).

Reuse Obligation

Data centres from 1 MW (EU basis per Art. 26 EED).

Deadlines

Annual EED reporting from 15 May 2026. National deadlines follow the decreto legislativo.

Platform

EU database via MASE/GSE (expected).

Ardor status: Ardor maintains seed data for 6 Italian sites. District heating data: AIRU (association), A2A (Milan, Brescia), Iren (Turin, Genoa, Parma), Hera (Bologna, Emilia-Romagna).

🇪🇸Spain

Pending

Legal Basis

Status	Draft Real Decreto in public consultation since 15 September 2025, draft published 16 December 2025
Requirements	PUE < 1.2, NIS2 cybersecurity, mandatory emissions reporting

Competent Authority

Ministerio para la Transición Ecológica y el Reto Demográfico (MITECO)

Reporting Obligation

Data centres from 500 kW IT load (EU basis).

Reuse Obligation

Data centres from 1 MW (EU basis per Art. 26 EED). Spanish additional requirements stricter than EU baseline.

Deadlines

Upon adoption of the Real Decreto, expected Q2–Q3 2026.

Platform

MITECO portal, supplemented by the EU database.

Ardor status: Ardor maintains seed data for 6 Spanish sites. District heating data: ADHAC, Ecoenergies Barcelona, Veolia España, Engie España.

🇸🇪🇩🇰🇫🇮Nordics (Sweden, Denmark, Finland)

Pending

Legal Basis

Transposition	Directive (EU) 2023/1791 via national energy agencies
Distinguishing feature	District heating is widespread; waste heat reuse is already practised voluntarily

Competent Authority

Energimyndigheten (SE), Energistyrelsen (DK), Energiavirasto (FI)

Reporting Obligation

Data centres from 500 kW IT load (EU basis).

Reuse Obligation

Data centres from 1 MW (EU basis per Art. 26 EED).

Deadlines

Annual EED reporting from 15 May 2026 for reporting year 2025.

Platform

National energy agencies, feeding into the EU database.

Ardor status: Ardor positions the platform for the Nordics as automation of existing waste heat reuse, not as methodology validation. Examples: Google Hamina (approx. 80% of local district heating), Microsoft Espoo (approx. 40%), Stockholm Exergi with 30+ connected data centres. Ardor maintains seed data for 24 sites (SE/NO/FI).

3. Non-EU Sites

Norway and Switzerland are maintained in the Ardor platform under bilateral recognition but are not subject to EED obligations. The United Kingdom is likewise not bound by the EED post-Brexit; ESOS and an Energy Security Bill in development apply there. For these countries, Ardor maintains site data in the marketplace but does not generate EU-compliant compliance reports.

4. Deadline Overview

Date	Event
2024-09-15	Initial EU-wide reporting per Del. Reg. 2024/1364
2025-05-15	Second annual EU-wide report (reporting year 2024)
2025-10-11	Transposition deadline EED 2023/1791 (France: compliance date)
2026-05-15	Annual report (reporting year 2025), first mandatory round for Italy, Nordics
2026-07-01	Start of 10% ERF quota for new German data centres from 1 MW (Section 11 EnEfG)
2027-03-31	First ERF review by BAFA for Germany
2027-05-15	Annual report (reporting year 2026)
2027-07-01	German ERF quota raised to 15%
2028-07-01	German ERF quota raised to 20%

5. Further Reading

Methodology: Calculation model, data sources, and verification procedures.
WHC White Paper: Discussion paper on the European Waste Heat Certificate.
Directive (EU) 2023/1791 (EUR-Lex).
Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 (EUR-Lex).
EnEfG (gesetze-im-internet.de).

Last updated: April 2026. Document version 1.0. Legal status of national transpositions is ongoing; please report discrepancies via /contact.