Europe · power prices
Electricity prices for data centres in Europe, by country
In the second half of 2025, electricity users of 150 GWh a year or more paid €0.159/kWh in Ireland, excluding VAT and recoverable taxes: 1.45 times the EU-27 average of €0.110 and the 2nd highest of 18 countries reporting that band. Poland was dearest (€0.172) and Norway cheapest (€0.041). Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205, updated 2026-10-09.
Updated 9 October 2026 · data build 2026-10-10 · how we know · corrections
Ireland pays 1.45× the EU average; Norway pays 26% of Ireland's price
Second half of 2025, euro per kWh, users of 150 GWh a year or more, excluding VAT and recoverable taxes. Measured
Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · API query · as of 2026-10-09 · band IG ≥150 GWh/yr; (IF) = 70–150 GWh/yr where no IG value is published · Compiled by StackPath
Countries with no published value in either band in 2025-S2 (no consumers that large, or confidential) are left out. The UK stopped reporting to Eurostat after 2020; Switzerland is not in this dataset.
Ireland's price is 45% below its 2022-S2 peak but 1.9× its 2019 level
Band IG, excluding VAT and recoverable taxes, euro per kWh, by half-year. Measured
Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · as of 2026-10-09 · Germany's band IG series starts in 2019-S2 · Compiled by StackPath
Newest half-year: 18 countries have published 2026-S1 figures but the EU-27 average is not out yet. Ireland is at €0.165, still 2nd of the 18 so far.
Ireland's premium is wholesale power, not tax: levies are 1.9% of its price
Retail price for the largest users (Eurostat, 2025 average of both half-years) against the same year's average day-ahead price (Ember), euro per MWh. The gap is network charges, levies and supplier margin. Calculated
| Country | Retail, band IG | Wholesale day-ahead | Gap (non-energy) | Levies share, H2 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ireland | €176 | €114 | €62 | 1.9% |
| Poland | €171 | €104 | €67 | 37.8% |
| Hungary | €159 | €109 | €50 | 10.6% |
| Austria | €142 | €99 | €42 | 12.5% |
| Slovakia | €142 | €103 | €39 | 5.7% |
| Germany | €132 | €90 | €43 | 9% |
| Romania | €131 | €109 | €23 | 7.5% |
| Greece | €123 | €104 | €19 | 3.5% |
| Italy | €119 | €122 | €-3 | 2.5% |
| Denmark | €114 | €83 | €32 | 0.9% |
| Bulgaria | €109 | €107 | €1 | 1% |
| Netherlands | €101 | €88 | €13 | 3.4% |
| Belgium | €95 | €84 | €11 | 6.8% |
| Portugal | €94 | €68 | €26 | 3.9% |
| Spain | €91 | €67 | €24 | 3.9% |
| France | €65 | €63 | €2 | 1% |
| Sweden | €61 | €43 | €18 | 0.8% |
| Norway | €40 | €45 | €-5 | 0% |
Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205 (X_VAT and X_TAX) · Ember European wholesale prices, CC BY 4.0 · as of 2026-10-09 · Compiled by StackPath
Levies share = (price excluding VAT and recoverable taxes − price excluding all taxes and levies) ÷ the first, for the band shown. Wholesale is the mean of Ember's monthly day-ahead averages, close to what a flat 24/7 load would pay before network charges. A negative gap means the large-user retail price was below the year's average spot price (hedged contracts, levy or network exemptions).
Source: Ember European wholesale electricity prices (monthly), CC BY 4.0 · as of 2026-10-11 · 2025-10 to 2026-09, € per MWh; Germany and Luxembourg share a price zone; Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Italy are averages of several zones · Compiled by StackPath
In 2025 the US industrial average was about €0.076/kWh: Ireland's largest users paid 2.3×, the EU 1.5×
Calendar-year averages, euro per kWh. EU and Ireland: Eurostat band IG (mean of both half-years). US: EIA average price to all industrial customers, converted at the ECB's annual average rate. Calculated
Source: US EIA Electric Power Monthly, table 5.3 · ECB USD/EUR reference rate · Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · as of 2026-10-11 · US 12 months to 2026-07: $0.089/kWh (preliminary) · Compiled by StackPath
The EIA figure averages every industrial customer (revenue divided by sales), not a size band, and many US data centres are billed as commercial customers, whose EIA average is higher. Treat the ratio as an order of magnitude, not a like-for-like tariff.
Against SemiAnalysis's 2022 tariffs: Europe's gap has narrowed but not closed
Calculated
Every country, H2 2025
Euro per kWh, excluding VAT and recoverable taxes. Band IG ≥150 GWh/yr; band IF 70–150 GWh/yr. Measured
Download CSV ↓Download half-year series CSV ↓Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · as of 2026-10-09 · Eurostat nrg_pc_205 (band IG ≥150 GWh/yr, excl. VAT and recoverable taxes) · Compiled by StackPath
Eurostat band IG covers consumers using 150 GWh a year or more (a flat load of about 17 MW or bigger); band IF is 70-150 GWh. Rows marked IF have no reportable IG value. Prices exclude VAT and other recoverable taxes and levies; they include network charges and non-recoverable levies. They are averages reported by national statistics offices; individual contracts and PPAs vary. Some countries have no consumers in band IG, or keep the value confidential; those show as band IF or are absent. The 2026-S1 half-year is published for only some countries and has no EU-27 average yet, so the ranking uses 2025-S2. Wholesale is Ember's monthly day-ahead average, averaged across months (close to a flat 24/7 load's price). Ember data CC-BY-4.0. The US figure is EIA's average for all industrial customers (revenue / sales), not a size band, and many US data centres are billed as commercial customers; treat it as an order-of-magnitude benchmark.
Our reading. For a flat, round-the-clock load the cheapest places in Europe are the Nordics, France and Iberia, where hydro, nuclear or solar keep wholesale prices low. Ireland sits with Poland and Hungary at the expensive end, and unlike Poland the reason is not levies: almost all of the gap is the wholesale price, which gas sets in most hours. Prices are national averages; large data centres often buy through long-term contracts, so an individual operator's cost can differ. For how Irish prices are made, see why Irish wholesale electricity is expensive and data centres and Irish electricity prices.
Questions people ask
- Which European country has the cheapest electricity for data centres?
- Among countries reporting Eurostat's largest consumption band (150 GWh a year or more), Norway (€0.041/kWh), France (€0.061/kWh), Sweden (€0.064/kWh) were cheapest in the second half of 2025, excluding VAT and recoverable taxes. Poland, Ireland, Hungary were dearest.
- How expensive is electricity for data centres in Ireland compared with Europe?
- Ireland's largest users paid €0.159/kWh in the second half of 2025, 1.45 times the EU-27 average of €0.110 and 2nd highest of 18 countries. Early 2026-S1 figures put Ireland at €0.165, still 2nd of 18 reporting so far (Eurostat nrg_pc_205).
- Why is Irish electricity expensive for large users?
- Mostly the wholesale price, not taxes. In 2025, Irish day-ahead power averaged €114/MWh (Ember), against a retail price for the largest users of about €176/MWh. Non-recoverable taxes and levies were 1.9% of Ireland's price in H2 2025, against 8.9% for the EU average. Gas sets the Irish price in most hours; see our explainer on Irish wholesale prices.
- Is electricity cheaper for data centres in the US than in Europe?
- On average, yes. The US Energy Information Administration's average industrial price was $0.0862/kWh in 2025, about €0.076 at the ECB's average exchange rate. Eurostat's EU-27 average for the largest band was €0.111 (1.5×) and Ireland's €0.176 (2.3×). The US figure covers all industrial customers, so it is a rough benchmark.
- What does 'band IG' mean in Eurostat electricity prices?
- Eurostat groups non-household electricity users by how much they use a year. Band IG is 150,000 MWh (150 GWh) or more, roughly a flat 17 MW load running all year, the scale of one large data-centre campus. Band IF is 70–150 GWh. Prices shown exclude VAT and other recoverable taxes, which a business reclaims.