Sino-German Workshop on Improving Energy Efficiency in Data Centres
On 16 January 2025, GIZ and the National Energy Conservation Center (NECC) co-organized an expert exchange workshop on energy efficiency in data centres. This event, under the Sino-German Energy Partnership, offered a platform for Chinese and German experts to exchange on the status, development goals and policy frameworks of energy efficiency in data centers within both countries. Through this event, experts from certification bodies, data center operators and technology solution providers were able to exchange views on political measures, technologies and best practices to improve energy efficiency.
Data centres are not only a strategic resource and public infrastructure supporting future economic and social development, but also a key component for energy saving and emission reduction given the advancement of digitalization. In Germany, data centres consumed 16 billion kWh in 2020, which is about 3% of Germany's total electricity consumption and growing to approximately 6%1 annually. In comparison, data centres in China consumed more than 200 billion kWh in 2020, amounting to about 2% of the total electricity consumption.
Policy Framework in Promoting Energy Efficiency in Data Center in Germany and China
German expert from the German Energy Agency (dena)introduced the improvement of German Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG) in 2023, which puts forward specific requirements for data centre energy efficiency as well as their use of renewable energy and waste heat. For data centres put into operation before 1 July 2026, the power usage effectiveness (PUE) must gradually improve, reaching a PUE ≤ 1.3 by 2030.
Chinese expert from the Subcommittee of Energy Efficiency Technology in Data Centre of CEESTA shared insights on data centre energy efficiency and related policies in China, with a special focus on China's legal and regulatory framework supporting the green development in data centers. He also introduced the current technological applications in China, including liquid cooling technology, waste heat recovery, and increased use of photovoltaic, in conjunction with relevant practice cases.
In the further discussion, experts from China and German data centers went deeper into the technological development, especially focusing on the highly promising liquid cooling technology. According to the statistics of the German Association for Information Industry, Telecommunications and New Media (BITKOM), 15% of data center operators in Germany have chosen liquid cooling, and this percentage is still increasing; while more and more data centres in China are adopting liquid cooling technology. The adoption of liquid cooling technology in the future will also improve the efficiency of waste heat utilization, which is of great significance to enhance the energy efficiency in data centres.
Look into the future
As the first event focusing on data centre energy efficiency under the framework of the Sino-German Working Group on Energy Efficiency, this event helps both sides gain a better understanding of the status quo, political framework, and technical development of data centre energy efficiency in the two countries. The Energy Partnership will keep observing this topic and enhancing the cooperation between the two countries. Together, we aim to advance the zero-carbon and green development of data centres in China and Germany.