United Kingdom (UK)

ABR Topic 05 • Back to interactive ABR viewer

The UK currently has no single statutory “data center energy efficiency law,” but data centers are hit through planning, building regs, and corporate reporting, plus voluntary schemes.

UK Parliament briefing: “There are no statutory energy efficiency obligations specifically for data centres in the UK,” but they must comply with commercial building standards/regulations, and planning often considers sustainability/energy use/heat re-use.
Research Briefings

A) Corporate reporting: SECR

UK government guidance exists for Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting (SECR) compliance.
GOV.UK

Cooling/power implication: SECR forces energy use and carbon disclosure for in-scope companies; data centers often become a material energy line item that must be measured and governed.

B) Voluntary but common: Climate Change Agreements (CCA) for data centres

TechUK explains CCA for data centres: participants get Climate Change Levy (CCL) discount in exchange for energy-efficiency targets.
TechUK

GOV.UK also describes the CCA framework and how targets are negotiated and administered.
GOV.UK

C) Planning & heat reuse pressure

UK planning is increasingly where “cooling strategy” and “waste heat reuse” discussions land (even if not a single national mandate), as highlighted in the Parliament briefing.
Research Briefings