France sets strict PUE and WUE thresholds as tax incentive

The French government has issued draft legislation that proposes electricity tax incentives for data center facilities that meet minimum performance standards (MPS) for PUE and WUE. The public consultation period is now closed. The final legislative text is expected to be published during the second quarter of 2026 and come into force on January 1, 2027.

France is one of several countries globally with electricity tax incentives tied to energy efficiency or decarbonization. Passed in 2019, the Accise sur l'électricité offers reductions in the electricity tax for energy-intensive activities, including a significant reduction for data centers (the current tax of €22 per MWh can be reduced to €10). For a data center with an average electricity consumption of 10 MW, the annual tax reduction can exceed €1 million. The reduced tax rate applies to consumption exceeding 1 GWh per year, corresponding to an average power demand of 114 kW. This means that most data centers will be sufficiently large to qualify for the tax reduction.