EU Battery Laws Are Changing: Is Your Data Center Ready?

DISCLAIMER: THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE; IT IS PROVIDED SOLELY FOR GENERAL INFORMATION PURPOSES. DETAILS OF THE REGULATION ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE AND ARE NOT MONITORED HEREIN.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL VERSION OF REGULATION 2023/1542.

A NEW ERA FOR BATTERIES ON THE EU MARKET

As part of ‘The European Green Deal,’ EU battery legislation is changing to help ensure circularity of batteries placed on the market. Regulation 2023/1542 was adopted and entered into force in 2023 replacing Directive 2006/66/EC. Parts of the legislation are now undergoing phased implementation.

Why the change?

The previous legislation of 2006 no longer reflected the strategic role batteries now play across critical sectors—including data centers, electric vehicles, and energy infrastructure. The EU projects that global battery demand will increase 14-fold between 2019 and 2030, underscoring the urgency of these reforms.

This new legislation is designed to address the full lifecycle of batteries, from production through to end-of-life management. Its primary objective is to promote circularity—ensuring that batteries placed on the EU market are sustainable, safe, and efficiently recycled.

Non-compliance? It could cost you

EU member states have not yet specified financial penalties for infringements of Regulation 2023/1542. However, previously implemented EU rules may serve as a precedent for data centers. The Network and Information Systems 2 (NIS2) Directive was implemented by member states in October, 2024—with a direct impact upon EU data centers.

One source notes maximum administrative fines for non-compliance to be: €10 million… or a maximum of 2% of total annual worldwide turnover in the preceding financial year—whichever is higher.

Implications Of EU Network Directive For Data Center Owners

FAILURE OF DATA CENTERS TO PREPARE FOR NEW LEGISLATION COULD RESULT IN SEVERE FINANCIAL DAMAGE.

UPCOMING CHANGES: 3 KEY WAYS DATA CENTERS MAY NEED TO PREPARE

1. Procurement due diligence

The battery due diligence policy outlined in the new legislation mainly concerns manufacturers and importers. However, end users—including data centers—may also need to carry out due diligence as part of the procurement process.

For instance, Article 7 outlines obligations regarding a carbon footprint declaration for each battery model per manufacturing plant. Meanwhile, Article 8 states the proportion of recycled content which must make up specific types of batteries.

Due diligence also covers ethical concerns. As part of their reporting obligations, manufacturers and importers will be required to comprehensively assess environmental, social, and human rights risks throughout their battery supply chains.

As end users, data centers will likely need to verify compliance with all the above obligations.

PROCUREMENT OF NON-COMPLIANT BATTERIES MAY LEAD TO COSTLY LONG-TERM PROBLEMS FOR DATA CENTERS.

2. Updating of battery passports

Under the new legislation, all industrial batteries with a capacity greater than 2kWh must be accompanied by a digital record. Known as a battery passport, the records are accessible via a QR code physically affixed to the battery. Key details include:

• Manufacturer details.
• Specifications.
• Environmental impact such as carbon footprint, recycled materials, etc.
• Performance data.
• End-of-life details.
• Compliance documents.

For data centers, the legislation introduces a new layer of operational responsibility. Operators are expected to ensure that the information within the battery passport remains accurate and up to date throughout the battery’s deployment. This includes:

• Logging routine maintenance activities to reflect the battery’s operational history.
• Reporting significant incidents, such as physical damage affecting the batteries.
• Documenting deviations from standard usage conditions, including overcharging or deep discharging events.

BATTERY PASSPORTS ARE SET TO BECOME MANDATORY BY FEBRUARY 2027. HOWEVER, TO HELP ENSURE COMPLIANCE, DATA CENTERS SHOULD UNDERSTAND THEIR OBLIGATIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.¹

3. End-of-life obligations

Manufacturers and importers bear the bulk of the responsibilities when batteries reach the end-of-life stage. Key obligations outlined in the legislation include:

• Extended producer responsibility (EPR)—the collection, treatment, and recycling of waste batteries.
• Collection targets—ensuring the take-back of industrial batteries from end users at no cost.
• Information provision—giving clear instructions for safe removal, handling, and disposal of batteries, and ensuring that battery passports include end-of-life details.

As end users, data centers will likely have to work with relevant battery manufacturers and importers to ensure compliance with end-of-life obligations. Key responsibilities may include:

• Ensuring proper use of manufacturer’s or importer’s designated collection scheme.
• Updating the battery passport to ensure accurate records of anything which may affect end-of-life handling.
• Facilitating collection and safe transport of batteries at end-of-life stage.

HOW UPCOMING CHANGES AFFECT DATA CENTERS OUTSIDE OF THE EU?

The legislation applies to batteries placed on the EU market. However, data centers beyond the EU may want to pay attention to the upcoming changes for various reasons:

• Supply chain dependency—reliance by data centers outside the EU on batteries originating from within the EU. In this case, many of the obligations may still apply. Understanding these obligations is essential for ensuring that imported batteries remain compliant with EU standards, even when deployed abroad.
• Expansion in the EU market—whether a non-EU entity is entering into or expanding within the EU market. Compliance with Regulation 2023/1542 is non-negotiable for any EU-based data center.

AVOID COMPLIANCE HEADACHES WITH AN ENERSYS^® SOLUTION

EnerSys^® already offers end-of-life recycling schemes within various EU countries. So, data centers can have one less compliance-related headache when their battery backup UPS needs replacing.

Other advantages of choosing EnerSys^® thin plate pure lead (TPPL) technology include:

• Batteries are comprised of 99% recyclable material—a figure reflected by Battery Council International. While certain other battery chemistries are recyclable, the process can be more costly compared to that of lead-acid. This means using alternative chemistries could make compliance more expensive for data centers.
• Reduction in total waste—with 8-10-year lifespan. Data centers get approximately 25% longer than traditional lead-acid batteries.
• Energy efficient operation—meaning lower carbon emissions to keep TPPL batteries on charge.

REFERENCES
1. The Uptime Institute has already produced some analysis on this question.

Click HERE to contact an EnerSys® sales representative and find a battery backup UPS solution made for your data center.

About EnerSys

Sustainability

Caution Concerning Forward-Looking Statements
EnerSys is making this statement in order to satisfy the “Safe Harbor” provision contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Any of the statements contained in this article that are not statements of historical fact may include forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. A forward-looking statement predicts, projects, or uses future events as expectations or possibilities. Forward-looking statements may be based on expectations concerning future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties relating to operations and the economic environment, all of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those matters expressed in or implied by forward-looking statements, please see our risk factors as disclosed in the “Risk Factors” section of our annual report on Form 10-K for the most recently ended fiscal year. The statements in this article are made as of the date of this article, even if subsequently made available by EnerSys on its website or otherwise. EnerSys does not undertake any obligation to update or revise these statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of the article.