Heat recovery from data centres is currently seeing a major growth phase in the UK. The process enables the capture of waste thermal energy from data centres, repurposing it for district heating and hot water networks. Heatnetwork expert, Power On, is informing the data centre industry of the advantages of these systems in reducing carbon emissions to help meet sustainability goals and fast-track planning applications.
The heat release issue
The UK has a rising need for data centres just at a time when it is also tightening sustainability regulations and requirements. It is well known publicly that data centres produce huge amounts of heat that is released to the atmosphere and that those running AI contribute to this even more. Harnessing this heat to be used elsewhere is clearly going to be a popular option with a positive public response.
District heating
District heating uses networked air- and ground-source heat pumps to provide centralised heat and hot water for towns, campuses and housing developments. These eliminate the need for individual boilers or electric heaters in each building, promoting lower electrical loads and reliable, cost-effective, low-carbon heating and hot water.
The win-win solution
Power On’s solution to the data centre heat release issue is to utilise the waste heat for district heating to warm the residential and commercial properties nearby. In just the same way that heat is harnessed from ground source heat pumps and transferred to the heating and hot water systems of high-density developments, the heat from data centres can be harnessed and distributed to cover local needs too. There are two savings here: one – the excess heat is not being released to the atmosphere; two – there is no need to create heat specifically for heating homes, campuses and towns. There is a massive win for the environment from both sides.
Indeed, there are further wins for data centres. Reusing the heat directly reduces the load on traditional cooling systems. This also lowers the overall energy consumption of the data centre. Furthermore, data centres can be paid for the waste heat they deliver.
Of course, there are hugely positive benefits for the corporate social responsibility (CSR) reputation of the data centres. Whilst this approach is still fairly uncommon in the UK, it is common practice in many parts of Europe.
Well placed
Data Centres and heat networks have similar geographic and demographic demands. Both tend to be situated in high-density, urban areas. This is so that the data centres have the strong electricity and fibre optic connections they need, along with skilled labour and, of course, to minimize network latency for users. Equally, heat networks work well in the high-rise and high-density residential developments most often found in new city districts and urban areas. So the two work perfectly in the same setting and now is the time for data centre developers to start working in conjunction with housing developers.
Alex Randal, Business Lead for Sustainable Heat, Power On, says, “With the number of data centres growing and climate change an ongoing and rising issue, data centres will be keen to enhance their CSR where possible and may need to do so soon under planning regulations. Having plans for heat recovery and transfer in place is likely to help to fast-track planning and will be good PR for data centres in what can sometimes be a difficult industry.”
