Portugal readies stricter data centre water, energy rules as capacity expands
Portugal is tightening environmental conditions for data centres as the country emerges as a growing European hub for the sector. The planned rules would require renewable power use and cooling systems that avoid pressure on freshwater supplies for households and businesses.
Highlights
- Portugal's government is finalising a decree mandating data centres to avoid fresh water for cooling and undergo rigorous environmental reviews.
- All data centres in Portugal will be required to source their electricity from renewables, leveraging the country's solar, wind and hydropower capacities.
- With over 2.6 GW of data centre projects in development, led by Microsoft-backed 1.2-GW Start Campus in Sines, future expansions face stricter resource and environmental constraints.
Planned decree targets water use and power sourcing
As reported by Reuters, Environment Minister Maria da Graca Carvalho says the government is finalising a decree that would impose stringent water-use requirements and a very rigorous environmental review on data centre projects.At a parliamentary hearing, Carvalho says projects will have to use cooling technology that does not require fresh water, or secure an alternative water solution that does not conflict with supplies for the general population and other socio-economic activities.
She also says data centres will be required to run on renewable energy. Operators can buy that power from utilities, supported by Portugal's solar, wind and hydropower resources.
Expansion raises pressure on infrastructure planning
Portugal is emerging as a European data centre hub, with more than 2.6 gigawatts under development. The pipeline is led by the 1.2-GW Start Campus project in Sines, which is backed by Microsoft.Data centres are facing growing opposition worldwide from environmental groups and local communities over heavy electricity and water consumption. In Portugal, the planned rules signal that future capacity growth is set to be tied more closely to resource constraints and environmental scrutiny.
Start Campus already has one of its six planned buildings in operation, and the facility runs on renewable energy and uses a seawater cooling system.
In our earlier article on the U.S. AI data center buildout, we examined how soaring financing costs, construction delays, and grid constraints are making many planned projects look less credible. We also noted that rising local opposition and tighter expectations around securing power supply are becoming key hurdles for developers trying to deliver capacity on time and within budget.
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