Regulations, 2025

L.N. 271 of 2025

REGULATOR FOR ENERGY AND WATER SERVICES ACT

(CAP. 545)

Data Centres (Sustainability Reporting Obligations)

Regulations, 2025

IN EXERCISE of the powers conferred by article 37(1) of the

Regulator for Energy and Water Services Act, the Minister responsible

for energy and water services, after consultation with the Regulator for

Energy and Water Services, has made the following regulations:-

(1) The title of these regulations is the Data Centres Citation and

scope.

(Sustainability Reporting Obligations) Regulations, 2025.

(2) The scope of these regulations is to transpose Article 12

and Article 26(6) of Directive (EU) 2023/1791 of the European

Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023 on energy

efficiency and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955 (recast).

(regulation 3)

Part A

Minimum requirements for Monitoring and Publishing the Energy

Performance of Data Centres

The following minimum information shall be monitored and

published with regard to the energy performance of data centres

referred to in regulation 3

(a) the name of the data centre, the name of the owner

and operators of the data centre, the date on which the data

centre started its operations and the locality where the data centre

is based;

(b) the floor area of the data centre, the installed power,

the annual incoming and outgoing data traffic, and the amount of

data stored and processed within the data centre;

(c) the performance, during the last full calendar year, of

the data centre in accordance with key performance indicators

about, inter alia, energy consumption, power utilisation,

temperature set points, waste heat utilisation, water usage and

use of renewable energy.

Part B

Data Centre General Information

Name of the Data

Centre

Data

Centre

Owner(s)

Data

Centre

Operator(s) (if different

from owner(s))

Date on which the

Data Centre commenced

operations

Locality of the Data

Centre

Data Specific to the Reporting Period

Reporting

Period

Start Date

Reporting

Period

End Date

Data Centre floor

area

Installed Power

Annual Data Traffic

- Incoming

Annual Data Traffic

- Outgoing

Amount of Data

Stored within Data Centre

Amount of Data

Processed within Data

Centre

Energy

Consumption

Power Utilisation

Temperature

Set

Points

Waste

Heat

Utilisation

Water Consumption

Renewable

Energy

used

Information which is subject to European Union and Maltese

laws protecting trade and business secrets and confidentiality shall not

be made publicly available by the data centre. This information shall

be marked as confidential in any submissions made in satisfaction of

the obligations in accordance with these regulations.

(1)

In these regulations, unless the context otherwise Interpretation.

requires

"Act" means the Regulator for Energy and Water Services Cap. 545.

Act;

"co-hosting customer" means a physical or legal person

who obtains access to a network or networks, servers, and

storage equipment in a co-hosting data centre on which they

operate their own services and applications;

"co-hosting data centre" means a data centre in which one

(1) or more customers are provided with access to network or

networks, servers, and storage equipment on which they operate

their own services and applications and where both the

information technology equipment and the support infrastructure

of the building are provided as a service by the data centre

operator;

"co-hosting data centre operator" means a physical or legal

person who manages the co-hosting data centre space, security,

network access, power, cooling, network or networks, servers,

and storage equipment, and part of the necessary software to

deliver information technology services to one (1) or more

customers, including information technology outsourcing;

"colocation customer" means a physical or legal person

who owns and manages one (1) or more networks, servers and

storage equipment located in a colocation data centre in which

they purchase managed space, power, and cooling capacity;

"colocation data centre" means a data centre in which one

(1) or more customers install and manage their own network or

networks, servers and storage equipment and services;

"colocation data centre operator" means a physical or legal

person who manages and sells space, security, network access,

power and cooling capacity in the entire colocation data centre to

one (1) or more customers who install and manage their own

network or networks, servers and storage equipment and

services;

"Commission" means the European Commission;

"Commission Delegated Regulation" means the

Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364 of 14 March

2024 on the first phase of the establishment of a common Union

rating scheme for data centres adopted in accordance with

Article 33(3) of the Directive;

"data centre" means a structure or a group of structures

used to house, connect and operate computer systems and, or

servers and associated equipment for data storage, processing

and, or distribution, as well as related activities;

"data centre computer room floor area" means the total

floor area within the data centre that accommodates the data

processing, data storage and telecommunication equipment that

provide the information technology services of the data centre;

"data centre operator" means enterprise data centre

operator, colocation data centre operator or co-hosting data

centre operator;

"data centre total floor area" means the total floor area of all

floors of the structure or group of structures that constitute the

data centre;

"Directive" means Directive (EU) 2023/1791 of the

European Parliament and of the Council of 13 September 2023

on energy efficiency and amending Regulation (EU) 2023/955

(recast);

"enterprise data centre" means a data centre that is operated

by an enterprise, and of which the sole purpose is to deliver and

manage the information technology needs of the enterprise;

"enterprise data centre operator" means a physical or legal

person who manages the entire enterprise data centre, including

the building and the use of the information technology services

delivered;

"European Database on data centres" means the database

established by the European Commission in accordance with

Article 12(3) of the Directive, which is intended for the

collection of information to be communicated by obligated data

centres in conformity with any delegated Act adopted by the

Commission in accordance with Article 33(3) of the Directive;

"installed information technology power demand" means

the sum of the nominal power demand, in kW, of the network or

networks, servers and storage equipment installed in the data

centre computer room floor area;

"Malta" shall have the same meaning as assigned to it in

article 124 of the Constitution of Malta;

"obligated data centres" means all data centres located in

Malta, including co-hosting data centres, colocation data centres

and enterprise data centres, having an installed information

technology power demand of at least five hundred kilowatts

(500kW).

(2) Unless the context otherwise requires, words and

phrases used in these regulations which are not defined in this

regulation shall have the same meaning as assigned to them in S.L. 545.33.

the Energy Efficiency Regulations.

(regulation 6)

Part A

Cost-Benefit Analysis

Cost-benefit analysis shall provide information for the purpose of

the measures referred to in regulation 6 as follows

1. If an installation without heat recovery is planned, a

comparison shall be made between the planned installation or the

planned refurbishment and an equivalent installation producing the

same amount of process heat, but recovering the waste heat and

supplying heat through a district heating and cooling network.

2. Within a defined geographical boundary, the assessment

shall take into account the planned installation and any appropriate

existing or potential heat or cooling demand points that may be

supplied from it, taking into account rational possibilities, for example,

technical feasibility and distance.

3. The system boundary shall be set to include the planned

installation and the heat and cooling loads, such as buildings and

industrial process. Within this system boundary the total cost of

providing heat shall be determined for both cases and compared.

4. Heat or cooling loads shall include existing heat or cooling

loads, such as an industrial installation or an existing district heating or

cooling system and also in urban areas, the heat or cooling load and

costs that would exist if a group of buildings or part of a city were

provided with or connected into a new district heating or cooling

network, or both.

5. Cost-benefit analysis shall be based on a description of the

planned installation and the comparison installations and shall cover

thermal capacity, planned usage and the number of planned operating

hours every year, location and thermal demand.

6. An assessment of waste heat utilisation shall take into

consideration current technologies. The assessment shall take into

consideration the direct use of waste heat or its upgrading to higher

temperature levels, or both. In the case of waste heat recovery on-site,

at least the use of heat exchangers, heat pumps, and heat to power

technologies shall be assessed. In the case of waste heat recovery off-

site, at least industrial installations, agriculture sites and district

heating networks shall be assessed as potential demand points.

7. For the purpose of the comparison, the thermal energy

demand and the types of heating and cooling used by the nearby heat

or cooling demand points shall be taken into account. The comparison

shall cover infrastructure related costs for the planned and comparison

installation.

8. Cost-benefit analysis for the purposes of regulation 6 shall

include an economic analysis covering a financial analysis reflecting

actual cash flow transactions from investing in, and the operating of,

individual installations.

9. Projects with positive cost-benefit outcome are those where

the sum of discounted benefits in the economic and financial analysis

exceeds the sum of discounted costs (cost-benefit surplus).

10. The cost-benefit analysis shall be carried out in line with

any further guiding principles which may be published for this purpose

in relation to the methodology, assumptions and timelines for the

economic analysis.

Part B

Information to be supplied within six (6) months of the completion of

the cost-benefit analysis

1. Data on the amount of available heat supply and heat

parameters.

2. Number of planned operating hours every year.

3. Geographical location of the site.

€0.90

(1) Owners and operators of obligated data centres shall, Data centres

by the 15th May of every year, make publicly available the reporting

obligation.

information set out in the First Schedule.

(2) The reporting obligation referred to in sub-regulation (1)

shall not apply to those data centres used for, or which provide their

services exclusively with the final aim of defence and civil protection.

(3) The obligation referred to in sub-regulation (1) shall be

satisfied through the publishing of the form available in Part B of the

First Schedule.

(1) Operators of obligated data centres shall monitor and

communicate to the European database on data centres any

information and key performance indicators required by the

Commission Delegated Regulation, and any other delegated act

adopted by the Commission in accordance with Article 33(3) of the

Directive.

(2) Operators of obligated data centres shall, by the 15th May

of each year, communicate to the European database with regard to the

obligations of data centres described.

Data centre operators shall put in place any arrangements

which may be necessary for the obtaining of information from

customers or third parties, including with colocation data centre

customers and co-hosting data centre customers, as the case may be,

which are required to ensure timely compliance with the obligations

referred to in regulations 3 and 4.

(1) Data centre operators with a total rated energy input

exceeding one megawatt (1MW) shall, following the 11th October

2025, utilise the waste heat or other waste heat recovery applications,

unless they can demonstrate that it is not technically or economically

feasible in accordance with the assessment referred to in sub-

regulation (2).

(2) Data centres operators shall carry out an installation level

cost-benefit analysis in accordance with Part A of the Second Schedule

in order to assess, at a minimum, technical feasibility, cost-efficiency

and the impact on energy efficiency and local heat demand, including

seasonal variation, of utilising waste heat to satisfy economically

justified demand, and of the connection of such installation to a district

heating network or to an efficient or renewable energy source-based

district cooling system, or other waste heat recovery applications.

(3) The analysis referred to in sub-regulation (2) shall be

carried out whenever a data centre with a total rated energy input

exceeding one megawatt (1MW) is newly planned or substantially

refurbished and shall consider cooling system solutions that allow

removing or capturing the waste heat at useful temperature level with

minimal ancillary energy inputs.

(4) Within six (6) months of the conclusion of a cost-benefit

analysis carried out in accordance with sub-regulation (2), the data

centre operator or the developer, as the case may be, shall

communicate the information listed in Part B of the Second Schedule

to the Regulator.

(5)

Any data centres whose waste heat is used or shall be used

in a district heating network or directly for space heating, domestic hot

water preparation or other uses in the building or group of buildings or

facilities where it is located shall be exempt from the application of

this regulation

Provided that such exemption may be subject to thresholds

set by the Regulator, expressed in terms of the amount of available

useful waste heat.

The obligations arising from regulations 3(1), 4(1) and 5 Obligations

are not intended to replace, and shall be without prejudice to any other without

prejudice to

obligations which may be applicable to data centres as they may arise other

obligations.

out of any other law such as obligations in relation to the

implementation of an energy management system, the drawing up of

an action plan based upon the recommendations emanating from

obligatory energy audits, and the publication thereof in the annual

report of the enterprise having any obligations in accordance with

these obligations.

(1) The Regulator may impose an administrative penalty Administrative

upon any person who breaches any provision of these regulations or penalty.

who fails to comply with any directive or decision given by the

Regulator in ensuring compliance with these regulations.

(2) An administrative penalty imposed in accordance with sub-

regulation (1) shall not exceed five thousand euro (€5,000) for each

breach.

For the purposes of an appeal in respect of a decision of Right of appeal.

the Regulator and an administrative penalty, Part VI of the Act

shall apply mutatis mutandis.

Any person who

Offences and

(a) wilfully or through negligence acts in breach of any penalties.

provision of these regulations;

(b) fails to comply with any lawful order in relation to

these regulations; or

(c) makes a declaration or submits information for any

purpose of these regulations which is false, misleading or

incorrect in any material respect,

shall be guilty of an offence against these regulations and shall

on conviction be liable to a fine (multa) of not more than ten thousand

euro (€10,000).

In the Second Schedule to the Administrative Justice Act,

immediately after the item "Customs Ordinance, Cap. 37, Superior

Competence in Proceedings related to the Seizure of Goods" there

shall be added the item "Regulator for Energy and Water Services Act,

Cap. 545, Superior / Inferior Competence" and immediately after the

item "Electricity Connection and Supply Regulations" there shall be

added the item "Data Centres (Sustainability Reporting Obligations)

Regulations, S.L. 545.42, Superior / Inferior Competence".