Data center waste heat – a key to regional energy solutions
Data center waste heat holds significant untapped potential that can be utilised in regional energy solutions as part of the green transition and fossil-free energy production. Recovering waste heat from data centers is a circular economy solution that delivers benefits not only for data center operators, but also for energy companies and society at large.
Why do data centers generate waste heat?
Data centers generate waste heat due to their substantial cooling requirements. The ICT systems in server halls and technical rooms – such as servers, storage systems and network equipment – consume large amounts of electricity, which is converted into heat during operation.
High temperatures can damage the sensitive equipment in a data center, making effective cooling essential. Cooling processes generate waste heat, i.e. surplus energy. Traditionally, this heat has been released into the environment without being utilised.
Sweco’s data center experts help capture waste heat generated by free cooling, air cooling and liquid cooling solutions and transfer it efficiently into regional heat production.
Utilisation of data center waste heat may be mandatory
All data centers with a total installed power exceeding 1 MW must utilise their waste heat or demonstrate through a cost–benefit analysis that recovery is not technically or economically feasible. Read more on the Energy Authority’s website or contact us for further information.
What technologies are used to recover waste heat from data centers?
Utilising waste heat from data centers requires an industrial-scale heat pump system. Hot air or cooling water is transferred from the data center’s cooling system to heat pumps via air-to-water heat exchangers.
Using heat pumps, the temperature of waste heat generated by data center cooling (30–40 °C) is raised to a higher level (60–115 °C), enabling the heat to be used in district heating production. Electric boilers can be used to support thermal energy storage.
Read more about energy recycling solutions for data centers!
What benefits does waste heat recovery from data centers provide?
When waste heat generated by data centers is recovered, thermal energy can be utilised in regional energy solutions such as district heating networks. This creates value for data center operators, energy companies and society as a whole:
- Waste heat recovery is a key element of energy-efficient data center operations and carbon footprint reduction. Utilising waste heat improves a data center’s energy efficiency (PUE value) and reduces carbon dioxide emissions, supporting data center operators’ ESG targets..
Read more about carbon management for data centers!
- Data center waste heat is fossil-free thermal energy. Using it in district heating networks reduces CO₂ emissions from heat production. Waste heat can replace, for example, combustion-based heat production and reduces the need for energy companies to invest in new production facilities..
Read more about the competitive advantages of the energy transition for data centers!
- Data centers generate waste heat consistently every day of the year, supporting and balancing more variable renewable energy production.
- Waste heat recovery transforms cooling costs into a revenue stream.
Sweco is your expert in data center waste heat recovery
Sweco’s data center experts have extensive experience in waste heat recovery projects across Finland and Northern Europe. We understand the entire waste heat value chain, providing valuable reference knowledge and hands-on experience with the latest cooling solutions as well as energy recycling, recovery and storage technologies.
Sweco supports both data center operators and energy companies throughout the entire project lifecycle and in building successful partnerships. We consider waste heat recovery opportunities and district heating network availability at every stage of the project.
Frequently asked questions about utilizing data center waste heat
Does recovering waste heat improve the energy efficiency of a data center?
The PUE (Power Usage Effectiveness) metric describes a data center’s energy efficiency, but the ERE (Energy Reuse Effectiveness) metric takes the benefits of heat recovery into account even more effectively. Recycling waste heat from data centers significantly reduces the overall energy consumption of the data center.
Does waste heat recovery compromise data center cooling?
Cooling of data center servers and other equipment is an absolute priority in the design of an energy recovery system. Sweco’s cooling system experts ensure that heat recovery and cooling systems operate as an integrated whole, so that cooling is automatically activated even if heat recovery is interrupted.
How can data center waste heat be utilized?
The most typical and cost-effective way to utilize waste heat from data centers is to transfer the heat to an existing district heating network located within a maximum distance of two kilometers from the data center. Due to the utilization of waste heat, district heating systems provide an important competitive advantage in data center location decisions for Finland and many other European countries.
In the future, waste heat from data centers can also be utilized in other industries, such as food production and the bioeconomy.
Explore Sweco’s data center waste heat recovery solutions!
How much waste heat do data centers produce?
The waste heat potential of data centers is significant, as data centers convert almost all of the electrical energy they consume into waste heat. A single data center can generate enough waste heat to meet the needs of thousands or even tens of thousands of households. For example, a 100 MW data center can produce district heating for approximately 80,000 households.
Verne Global Finlandin The Air
Verne Global Finland’s The Air is the first climate-neutral data center in the Nordic countries. The waste heat generated by the data center’s cooling is recovered and transferred to the Vantaa district heating network through a flexible and scalable energy recycling system.
Borealis Data Center’s waste heat reused in the local district heating network
The liquid cooling system designed by Sweco, together with heat pump, electric boiler and energy storage solutions, enables the utilisation of data center waste heat in Loiste’s district heating network in Kajaani. Sweco also acted as EPCM partner to the energy company Loiste.
Kirkkonummi data center
From the outset, the design of the data center in Kirkkonummi emphasized the potential for utilising waste heat in regional district heating production. The data center’s waste heat serves as a replacement energy source and enables the closure of Fortum’s coal-fired power plant.
Are you looking for a trusted partner for data center design?
Contact us, and we will help ensure that your data center’s design and delivery progress smoothly and in line with your objectives. Together, we can build the data center solutions of the future.
You can contact our specialist, Data Center Business Lead Antti-Jussi Laine, who is more than happy to tell more and lead you forward.
Antti-Jussi Laine
Data Centre Business Lead