Data centres: "Unfair to say that nuclear power is the future and exclude it from a label" (C. Grudler)

"You can't say that nuclear power is the energy of the future for powering our data centres and then refuse to recognise it in a European label! It's totally unfair and unacceptable. The Commission must back down, and I have every hope that it will amend its delegated act defining the criteria for a green label for data centres. This is the whole point of the letter sent to Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, on 18/05/2026", Christophe Grudler MEP (FR / Renew), told News Tank on 20/05/2026.

A delegated act defining the criteria for a green label for data centres is due to be adopted on 27/05/2026 as part of the Energy Efficiency Directive. The text was put out to consultation from 26/03 to 23/04/2026. The 3,000 data centres in Europe (11.9 GW of installed capacity) will be rated more highly if they use renewable energy rather than nuclear power, according to the text.

" This European label, which is supposed to assess the environmental performance of data centres, excludes nuclear power and historical hydroelectricity from its calculation. As a result, a…