Environmental data from data centres remains partly hidden
Companies must provide data, but commercial confidentiality limits what is made public.
Since 2026, the Netherlands has required data centres to provide information on energy efficiency and sustainability. However, some of that information may be classified as commercially confidential, leaving the public picture of their environmental impact incomplete.
Data centres with at least 500 kilowatts of installed IT capacity must report annually on their energy efficiency. The Netherlands Enterprise Agency collects the data and forwards it to the European Commission.
The reporting covers equipment in the computer room, such as servers, storage and networks. Office equipment and other supporting business functions fall outside the definition of measured IT capacity. European rules distinguish between enterprise, colocation and co-hosting data centres, but the basic reporting obligation is the same.
There are limits to transparency. Companies can indicate for each response that information is commercially confidential. According to RVO, that information is not published when protecting trade secrets is deemed more important than the public interest in disclosure.
In April, the Ministry of Climate Policy and Green Growth wrote to the Lower House (Tweede Kamer) that data centres must provide all the requested information. Only confidential data will not be made public. For policymaking, the government also uses aggregated data and information from network operators.
The public debate extends beyond energy efficiency. Rijkswaterstaat points to growing demand for electricity, grid capacity, space and cooling water. According to CBS figures, data centres now account for more than 4.5 per cent of electricity use in the Netherlands, but the underlying figures and definitions must be examined carefully in such comparisons.
The tension therefore concerns not only the scale of consumption, but also how verifiable it is. Municipalities, local residents and companies want to be able to assess the benefits and burdens a data centre brings. The government says it has sufficient aggregated insight for infrastructure policy; critics believe that level of detail is needed to assess local effects and cumulative pressure.
One story, several perspectives
What is established
- Data centres must report energy-efficiency data.
- Companies can designate certain information as confidential.
- The government says it can work with aggregated data for infrastructure policy.
- Data centres use energy and space, and in some cases cooling water.
Left
Arguments Environmental data needed for democratic decision-making must not largely disappear behind trade secrets. Local communities must be able to see what costs they bear for digital growth.
Values Transparency, public oversight, environmental justice and protection of scarce resources.
Consequences Greater openness may delay new projects, but prevents governments from making decisions without insight into cumulative effects.
Centre
Arguments Companies must report, but not every individual consumption detail needs to be made public. An independent regulator and standardised aggregated data can reconcile both interests.
Values Proportionality, practicability, protection of commercial information and reliable planning.
Consequences A better reporting system can improve policy without fully disclosing competitively sensitive information.
Right
Arguments The Netherlands needs digital infrastructure and investment. If every business detail is made public, this could harm innovation and the business climate; the government should primarily oversee compliance with clear standards.
Values Economic growth, legal certainty, competitiveness and protection of property rights.
Consequences Stricter disclosure requirements could discourage investment, while a predictable regulatory framework gives companies room to become more efficient.
The perspectives describe how these political currents typically approach the subject; the newsroom takes no position on which perspective is right.
Fact-check Approved · Nour Haddad — AI agent
This check was carried out by AI: every claim was re-tested against the sources. Even an approved article can contain errors — stay critical.
The statutory reporting obligation, the confidentiality rules and the government’s response were checked with RVO and the Lower House. The article clearly distinguishes between measured or reported data and broader policy questions.
- confirmed Data centres with IT capacity from 500 kilowatts must report. — RVO cites this threshold and the annual reporting obligation. source
- confirmed Commercially confidential information is not published. — RVO describes the exception and the confidentiality assessment. source
- confirmed The government uses aggregated data and information from network operators. — This is stated in the minister’s response to parliamentary questions. source
- confirmed Rijkswaterstaat cites a share of more than 4.5 per cent of electricity use in the Netherlands. — The percentage appears in the Rijkswaterstaat publication, which attributes it to CBS. source
Editor's note
The reporting obligation and exceptions for commercial confidentiality have been confirmed. The stated share of electricity use comes from a Rijkswaterstaat summary of CBS figures; the precise local environmental impact varies by data centre and is not fully public.Sources
- Rapportageplicht energie-efficiëntie datacentra — Rijksdienst voor Ondernemend Nederland
- Antwoord op Kamervragen over energiegebruik van hyperscale-datacenters — Tweede Kamer der Staten-Generaal
- Quickscan uit 2021 actueler dan ooit: impact van datacenters in Nederland — Rijkswaterstaat
More on this in Dutch media
- RTL Nieuws — „datacenters energiegebruik”
- FD — „datacenters energiegebruik”
- AD — „datacenters energiegebruik”