Adapting data centre design to solve the dual challenge of power availability and energy efficiency

The European data centre industry is scaling fast to handle surging AI workloads and growing cloud services. At the same time, tighter regulations are requiring operators to improve energy efficiency, reshaping how these facilities are designed and managed. 

The EU’s Energy Efficiency Directive now mandates that facilities with an IT power demand of 500 kW or greater publish their energy and sustainability KPIs annually. While this is currently a reporting obligation, operators cannot afford to be complacent. The EU is expected to introduce minimum performance standards in the future, with penalties for non-compliance – forcing data centres to urgently rethink their standards for transparency and efficiency.

This pressure is paired with increasing demand for power availability. Among Europe’s large-scale data centres (over 5MW), colocation is the most common type. Colocation data centres – where multiple organisations can rent space and share power and cooling infrastructure – are estimated to contribute €83.3 billion to the region’s GDP by 2030. Yet, in that same time, the electricity demand from data centres worldwide will double – more than the entire electricity consumption of Japan today. It is then not surprising that 76% of colocation providers say that access to power will be their biggest challenge in the next three years.

With power-constrained data centres expected to simultaneously keep performance high and their environmental footprint low, operators must turn their attention to factors within their control – chief among them, visibility and resilience.

Boosting visibility through intelligent power monitoring

Data centres need to optimise their energy efficiency and reduce their operating costs without compromising on performance. Gaining real-time visibility into energy consumption is the first step to this.

Intelligent power monitoring and metering systems can be implemented to identify equipment that drives up energy consumption and power capacity, and provide an accurate breakdown of consumption throughout the data centre. Crucially, they also make it possible to measure the data centre’s PUE (power usage effectiveness), which forms the backbone of EED reporting.

For European colocation providers, there is an added layer of responsibility: billing at a sub-tenant level requires all meters to comply with the EU’s Measuring Instrument Directive (MID). Accuracy and trust in the integrity of this data are essential here, but compliance shouldn’t be an operator’s only motivation. 

Centralised, real-time monitoring with power quality meters provides visibility into vital data insights that can help operators make informed decisions about how to minimise operating expenditure (OPEX) over the data centre’s lifespan, including reducing its energy usage. Day-to-day, continuous monitoring can also help surface inefficiencies, preventing costly downtime and enabling targeted maintenance. 

Resilience takes centre stage with modular UPS

A data centre’s energy efficiency means little without reliable power to support critical systems during outages. Ensuring the long-term scalability and sustainability of data centres requires operators to rethink the architectural resiliency of their backup energy systems.  

OPEX is a key metric here, too. Operators are making decisions with the view to keep operating expenses low not just today, but also for the data centre’s 20+ years of usage. They will be simultaneously looking at the initial capital expenses (CAPEX) of the amount of equipment needed to bolster resiliency as well as OPEX in the long run – and they are recognising that, increasingly, they will have to do more with less.

Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) systems allow data centre operators to provide backup power in the event of grid disturbances and power failures. Traditionally, this involved creating high levels of redundancy, which increased complexity and space requirements. Now, the focus is shifting to modular, ultra-compact designs that support resilience without wasting energy or physical footprint.

One such design, catcher architecture, takes this approach to the next level, minimising the need for redundant hardware and optimising resource utilisation. During power disruptions, the load can be transferred from the normal path to the redundant path (which “catches” it online) without any interruption or voltage drops, providing the highest level of resiliency. Although the design requires additional hardware in the form of static transfer switches (STS) to be placed between the UPS and the load, Socomec estimates that catcher architecture uses 30% less equipment and 42% fewer batteries overall. 

The smaller footprint means lower CAPEX and a reduced carbon footprint, too. Beyond making clear commercial and environmental sense in response to current market pressures, the compact design also has a cumulative effect in reducing OPEX and service costs over a period of 15-20 years. 

Leading the way for scalable, energy-efficient data centres

Data centres form the backbone of Europe’s digital infrastructure and will continue to underpin essential services, innovation and research. With the demand for AI and cloud computing growing exponentially, data centres will need to rapidly scale while also navigating evolving regulatory pressures and grid constraints.

In the quest for better performance, efficiency and transparency, operators should prioritise intelligent energy management and resilient infrastructures. Accurate monitoring and metering will give operators the visibility to cut waste and manage performance, while modular backup systems will improve resilience and simplify maintenance. Together, these approaches offer reduced costs and a clear path to long-term sustainability.