Data Centers & District Energy

Data Center Knowledge Summary Underground facilities represent a small but growing niche in the global data center market, driven largely by adaptive reuse of retired mines and bunkers in North America and Northern Europe. Swedish internet service provider Bahnhof has become one of Europe’s most visible advocates of underground data centers, using hardened facilities to combine energy efficiency, security, and resilience. Its best-known site, Pionen, is located nearly 100 feet beneath Stockholm in a former civil defense bunker originally built during the Cold War. The facility relies on thick granite walls for physical protection and stable temperatures, while district cooling and renewable energy help reduce operating costs and environmental impact. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter #DistrictCooling

Big News Network Summary Google has officially broken ground on its first data centre in Austria. Located on a 50-hectare site in Upper Austria, the facility is designed with an operational capacity of 150 MW to address the rising demand for cloud computing and artificial intelligence solutions. The project is a cornerstone of Google's commitment to operate on carbon-free energy by 2030 through a reliance on solar power, photovoltaic systems, and plans to repurpose waste heat generated by servers for industrial processes and district heating networks. Continue Reading #News #MemberNewsIDEA #google #DataCenter #DistrictHeating

EESI Summary The U.S. energy sector has a data center problem . In 2023, data centers accounted for 4.4% of the nation’s energy consumption, a significant increase from the 1.9% reported in 2018. This surge has taken a toll on both consumers and the environment due to rising energy and water consumption. With data center development projected to rise, their energy consumption may nearly triple by 2028, placing an unprecedented amount of strain on the already-stressed electrical grid and raising electricity prices for nearby communities One promising solution is to establish district heating systems that take waste heat from data centers and reuse it in nearby buildings through an efficient community-wide network of heat-carrying pipes. By viewing the heat generated by servers as a commodity rather than a byproduct to be discarded, district heating systems can capture and divert excess heat to warm homes, factories, and public facilities. This approach, already used across Europe , has the potential to deliver substantial benefits for the climate, environment, and economy. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter

The Business Desk Summary British digital infrastructure company Deep Green has partnered with energy tech innovator Zendo to power a new generation of small-scale, AI-ready data centres with renewable energy and intelligent energy management. This is part of London-based Deep Green’s model of locating distributed, modular data centres close to where heat energy can be put to use in local facilities such as swimming pools, district heating networks and public buildings. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter

Business Reporter Summary The growth of data centres around the world has been dramatic, driven by increasing reliance on cloud services, artificial intelligence, hyperscale investment and big data. According to DCByte, the hyperscale data centre count nearly doubled in the five years from 2019 to 2024 – from fewer than 600 to 1,136. In that period, total pipeline supply growth was recorded at 50.3GW. In just 2024, there was a 30 per cent year-on-year increase in global take-up, reaching 12,975MW. Off-grid, on-site power generation as the primary energy source for data centres, with full energy independence from the national grid, is considered to be the ultimate objective for operators. Finally, it is being made possible with the advent of microgrids. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter #Microgrids

Natural Refrigerants Summary SWEP’s work with data centers began more than a decade ago and was initially focused on free cooling. Around 2020, as data centers became denser and more energy-intensive, the company shifted toward liquid cooling, and around 2022 it began seeing increased interest in heat recovery and reuse from data center operators. EcoDataCenter is a high-performance computing and artificial intelligence facility with 80MW of installed IT power capacity located in Falun, Sweden, and owned by real estate company Areim. The site operates entirely on renewable electricity , with 75% coming from hydropower and the remaining 25% from wind. The heat recovery system captures low-grade heat from the data center’s chiller condensers at 30–32°C (86–90°F) and transfers it to a nearby combined heat and power facility operated by the municipal utility company Falu Energi & Vatten. There, the recovered heat contributes to the production of wooden pellets, supplementing the CHP plant’s biofuel supply. Roughly 50% of the plant’s total process energy is covered by the heat sourced from EcoDataCenter. Continue Reading #MemberNewsIDEA #DataCenter #CHP

Perry Tribute Summary Many consumers — and state policymakers and even utility companies — are worried about the possibility of large numbers of data centers raising electricity demand and power prices. Those are real concerns, but our engineering research finds that if designed, constructed, and operated carefully, data centers can actually help the communities that host them. Data centers produce large amounts of heat, which must be removed from the computer chips. A data center gives off enough heat to potentially keep nearby buildings warm. Many cities around the world already have what are called “district heating systems,” in which a group of buildings are connected with a pipe network and receive their heat from a central heat source. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter

w.media Summary The idea of floating data centers has been bobbing around for some time now. The latest announcement of a floating data center about to be built off Yokohama in autumn 2025 has people excited again. Although only a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) has been signed by a consortium of Japanese companies, the prospect of an offshore floating data center utilizing 100% renewable energy is looking very bright indeed. Singapore’s own experimental floating data center project, a first on the island nation, is still in the preparatory stage. The Keppel Data Centres’ Floating Data Centre Park (FDCP) project aims to alleviate land, water and energy constraints of traditional data centres. Similar to the Yokohama debut model, the FDCP also features a modular design and aims to harness seawater for cooling, thereby increasing cooling efficiency by up to 80%, by their estimate. Indeed, the proposed seawater district cooling system will be 10 times larger than the largest built in the world. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter

Van Ness Feldman Summary On April 16, 2026, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC or Commission) issued an order partially accepting and partially rejecting PJM Interconnection, L.L.C.’s (PJM) compliance filing addressing the Commission’s December 2025 determination that PJM’s tariff was unjust and unreasonable as applied to generators serving Co ‑ Located Load, including large data centers. [1] FERC accepted tariff reforms that provide clarity on interconnection pathways, but rejected PJM ’ s attempt to alter the Commission ‑ mandated definition of “Co ‑ Located Load ” and to revise behind-the-meter application requirements. The Commission also directed an additional compliance filing within 30 days. FERC’s order has immediate and practical implications for entities pursuing co ‑ located generation strategies in PJM. Co-Located Load developers may pursue reduced ‑ capacity interconnection, provisional service, and surplus service options that better align with on ‑ site load profiles which may reduce cost and timeline risk. Additionally, by reaffirming the Commission ‑ approved definition tied to the point of interconnection, FERC curtailed potential disputes regarding the boundary for Co ‑ Located Load that could delay projects. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter

DCD Summary Microsoft has signed a heat reuse deal with Danish heat transmission firm VEKS and Denmark’s largest district heating company, Høje Taastrup Fjernvarme, to supply waste heat to a local district heating network in Høje-Taastrup, Denmark. The deal will see Microsoft provide waste heat from one of its data centers in the region into the local network, which, according to the companies, will cover the annual heating needs of approximately 6,000 households in Høje-Taastrup. Continue Reading #News #DistrictHeating

Think GeoEnergy Summary An urban heating project by Idex in Levallois, France combines geothermal heat with waste heat recovered from a local data center. Low-carbon energy company Idex has announced the launch of an urban heating project in the commune of Levallois in the Hauts-de-Seine department of France that will combine geothermal heating and a waste heat recovery system from a data centre. The pioneering project is expected to be operational by 2029. Idex will be investing EUR 70 million for the project, which includes EUR 15 million funding from the French Ecological Transition Agency (ADEME). The project will be carried out through SAS EnR, a joint stock company dedicated to renewable energies. Idex and the city of Levallois will be partner shareholders in the development company. Continue Reading #News #DistrictHeating #DataCenter

Seoul Economic Daily Summary The fuel cell industry is drawing attention as a key power infrastructure for the era of AI transformation (AX) and green transformation (GX). Fuel cells require less installation space than solar or wind power, making them suitable as power infrastructure for urban AI data centers. They can generate electricity continuously regardless of weather conditions, and their waste heat can be used for district heating in nearby areas, enabling highly efficient energy management. Continue Reading #News #fuelcells #DistrictHeating

Seattle PI Summary Data centers produce large amounts of heat, which must be removed from the computer chips. A data center gives off enough heat to potentially keep nearby buildings warm. Many cities around the world already have what are called “ district heating systems ,” in which a group of buildings are connected with a pipe network and receive their heat from a central heat source. Data centers could serve as a heat source for these systems. Recent improvements in these systems, called a “ thermal microgrid ” or an “ambient loop,” don’t require steam or extremely hot water, but rather use cooler temperatures of water to transport heat between the buildings. Efficient electric heat pumps in each building use that water loop to adjust the building’s air temperature in both winter and summer, creating combined district heating and cooling systems. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter

Canadian Property Management Summary Energy management and innovation could be a key enabler and sustainable competitive edge for data centre development and related economic growth tied to smart technologies and artificial intelligence (AI). A new report sponsored by the MaRS Discovery District, a Toronto-based incubator for research, development and commercialization, models the potential for accommodating up to 3 gigawatts (3,000 megawatts) of additional data centre capacity in Ontario over the next 10 years, and explores how that could occur synergistically with other development demands. Factoring in planned expansions to 2035, researchers conclude that Ontario’s electricity system could support up to 1.5 gigawatts (1,500 megawatts) of new data centre load plugging into the grid if it occurred in tandem with various conservation and demand management (CDM) strategies. Supplementary sources, such as on-site generation or district energy networks, would be needed to power data centre expansion beyond that. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter

Facilities Management Advisor Summary Hyperscale data center growth is running headlong into real-world constraints—interconnection queues, transformer lead times, water stress, community scrutiny, and tightening climate policy. At the same time, the thermal profile of the data center sector is shifting decisively from air to liquid cooling, concentrating heat into a form far more useful than a plume of hot exhaust. In that context, district energy—the practice of distributing heating and cooling through shared underground networks—is a strategic lever. Data centers accounted for roughly 4.4% of U.S. electricity use in 2023 and, while forecasts vary widely, projections consistently point to significant growth through the end of the decade. For facilities executives managing data center assets or properties that host them, the constraints bearing down on this sector—power, water, and community acceptance—are precisely the areas where district energy integration has demonstrated measurable, operating-scale impact. Continue Reading #MemberNewsIDEA #DataCenter #DistrictEnergy #Content

Wired Summary The US federal government’s central energy information agency is planning to implement a mandatory nationwide survey of data centers focused on their energy use, according to a letter seen by WIRED. This survey would be the first effort of its type to collect basic information about data centers. The letter was sent to senators Elizabeth Warren and Josh Hawley on April 9 by the head of the Energy Information Administration, Tristan Abbey, and comes in response to a previous inquiry from the senators about the EIA’s plans to get more information about data centers Continue Reading #News #DataCenter #DataCenters

w. media Summary Singapore’s plan for a 700MW data center park on Jurong Island is as much about kickstarting a renewables economy as it is about expanding capacity. Though data centers don’t need a lot of the shared infrastructure created for the petroleum industry, some existing services make sense, such as demineralized water, water for firefighting, and seawater cooling circuits, along with wastewater treatment facilities. Others could be explored, including district cooling, pooled diesel fuel storage, and off-site Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS). The idea is to leverage economies of scale for cost savings, or to tap into capabilities that would otherwise not be practical, such as off-site BESS. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter #DistrictCooling

Castanet Summary The Thompson Rivers University Community Trust (the Trust) is pleased to announce that construction has officially begun on a new data centre at 1452 McGill Road, which will form part of Bell Canada’s Bell AI Fabric – a national full-stack AI infrastructure platform that brings together secure data centres, high-performance compute, networking and managed services to support advanced research, innovation and AI adoption in Canada. Sustainability is a core component of the Project’s design. Notably, the facility is being planned with the capability to capture and repurpose waste heat as part of a future Low Carbon District Energy System, supporting TRU’s broader climate and sustainability goals. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter #DistrictHeating

Power Summary Social media group TikTok said it would invest €1 billion ($1.16 billion) to build the company’s second data center in Finland. TikTok on April 7 said the new facility would be in Lahti, in southern Finland, and would have capacity of 50 MW, scalable to 128 MW. Google last year announced a project designed to cool a data center in Hamina, in the south of Finland, that would expand into a district energy project for the community. The offsite heat recovery project is being done with local utility Haminan Energia. Continue Reading #News

Facility Executive Summary Across the U.S. and around the world, data centers are multiplying to support an exponential increase in digital demand. Cloud services, streaming platforms, and artificial intelligence applications are driving unprecedented growth in data processing—and in both the amount and temperature of the heat that processing produces. With that growth comes a parallel surge in thermal output and new operational considerations for facility leaders responsible for managing energy use, cooling capacity, and system resilience. Excess server heat can support district heating, and facilities that plan for heat recovery from the beginning have far more flexibility than those trying to retrofit later​​, especially when anticipating higher future coolant temperatures driven by AI and high-performance workloads. Continue Reading #News

Natural Refrigerants Summary SWEP, a global manufacturer headquartered in Landskrona, Sweden, has been producing brazed plate heat exchangers (BPHEs) since 1983. A subsidiary of the Dover Corporation since 1994, the company operates five production facilities across three continents and maintains entities in more than 20 countries. In 2023 alone, the company produced and sold more than 3.5 million BPHEs worldwide. SWEP’s products are designed for efficient heat transfer across a wide range of sectors, including comfort cooling, power generation, industrial manufacturing and data centers. “We have been working with heat recovery for many years with applications like power generation and combined heat and power [CHP] systems, steel mills and paper mills,” said Christer Frennfelt, Business Development Manager at SWEP. “Now we have another heat source to work with: data centers.” Continue Reading #News #MemberNewsIDEA #SWEP #CHP #DataCenter

Capacity Summary Microsoft has officially opened its new Danish data centre region to provide Microsoft customers in Denmark with local and secure cloud infrastructure. Referred to as Denmark East, the new data centre region has campuses in Høje Taastrup, Køge and Roskilde on Zealand. The region has been designed with sustainability as a critical priority, with Microsoft having entered into long-term power purchase agreements (PPAs) to provide 130 megawatts (MW) of renewable energy every year. It will also use HVO for backup power generation across the region. The company said its data centre site in Høje-Taastrup will be Microsoft’s first operational at-scale waste heat recovery in Denmark – with the data centres engineered to recovery surplus heat for local district heating systems. It will have the capability to heat around 6,000 homes in the local area at first, with future expansion planned in Køge, the company said. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter #DistrictHeating

w. media Summary Berlin’s research landscape will soon get a new AI facility and data center through a collaboration between the Zuse Institute Berlin (ZIB) and Helmholtz-Zentrum Berlin (HZB). The center aims to provide scalable, secure infrastructure for high-performance computing (HPC), data management, and AI applications. According to a press release, development will start in 2026-2027 with consolidated infrastructure at ZIB in Dahlem and a new site at HZB in Adlershof. By 2029-2030, additional computing capacity will be added. Sustainability is a priority, including energy-efficient hardware and plans to use waste heat locally. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter

DataCentre Summary atNorth and Kesko have brought a new heat reuse partnership online, marking a step forward in integrating circular economy principles into data centre operations. The initiative channels waste heat generated by atNorth’s FIN02 data centre in Espoo to a neighbouring Kesko retail store, repurposing excess heat from the facility’s infrastructure. The project is supplying almost all of the store’s heating requirements, which reduces its reliance on district heating while hitting sustainability targets by lowering emissions for both organisations. Continue Reading #News #DistrictHeating

MSN Summary Echelon Data Centres' DUB20 data centre campus in Arklow, Co Wicklow will become Ireland's first Green Energy Park. Green Energy Parks are defined by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment as developments that co-locate large energy users, such as data centres, with renewable energy generation. They are required to be primarily powered by renewables with battery storage or dispatchable backup from energy centres, can demonstrate reduced reliance on the national grid, and can promote innovation and system-wide benefits, such as using waste heat for district heating schemes. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter