Greece is drafting legislation that would require data centers to source 60% of their power from renewables, and it also proposes creating a data center registry.

The Greek government has proposed new legislation that could require data centers to source at least 60 percent of their power from renewable sources.

The Ministry of Environment and Energy proposed the draft legislation, which also includes several other provisions seeking to set stricter requirements for data centers. Among them, data center investors would be allowed to reserve grid capacity only when they can prove sufficient financial backing and investment readiness, and they would be required to cover grid connection and related grid reinforcement costs.

The rules would also subject data centers to financial capacity checks, including turnover criteria for projects connecting to the transmission system. In addition, data centers seeking a connection would have to provide a bank guarantee of €200,000 ($224,089) per MW to prevent speculative applications from entering the grid connection queue.

The draft legislation further proposes that the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water (RAAEY) create a data center registry to track developments in the sector and improve transparency.

The draft also introduces flexible grid connection agreements in locations with insufficient capacity. These would permit grid operators to limit the amount of power a facility can draw from the grid within set limits. In addition, transmission and distribution operators would be required to publish information every three months on available connection capacity by region.

Finally, the proposals establish a €2.3 billion ($2.57 billion) Island Decarbonization Fund to finance projects that would reduce reliance on oil-fired generation in favor of renewable energy and storage facilities.

The consultation will run until October 24, 2026.

The draft legislation follows Spain, which proposed new legislation in August that would require data centers to source at least 80 percent of their electricity consumption from new renewable generation on an hourly basis.

Greece is a relatively small data center market compared to the rest of Europe, but it has seen significant expansion in recent years. According to Data Center Map, the country currently has 29 operational facilities across 19 operators. Digital Realty launched its first data center in the country in April of last year on the island of Crete.