Data center waste heat reuse turns a cost into a resource. Stockholm is the best known example, where servers feed heat into the city district heating network.
How Stockholm got started
Stockholm Data Parks launched in January 2017 as a joint effort of the City of Stockholm, Stokab, Ellevio and Stockholm Exergi. District heating in Stockholm has taken in excess heat since 1979, when an IBM data center was the first supplier, according to a 2018 announcement.
The 2018 deal
In March 2018 the operator DigiPlex announced a deal to feed heat from a working data center into the network, enough for up to 10,000 modern apartments. It was called the first agreement of its kind. That was announced capacity, and I could not verify delivered output.
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What the network says today
Stockholm Exergi says its network serves more than 800,000 people with about 3,000 km of pipes. Its site also shows banners about how many apartments are heated with excess heat from all sources, and the number changes by page, so it is not a data center figure.
Limits
Heat recovery needs a nearby district heating network, and most places do not have one. No independent audit of the Stockholm numbers was found, so the claims here are company stated.
What this means for cities
A city that wants heat reuse needs three things: a heat network, a data center close to it, and a contract that pays fairly for the heat. Stockholm built all three over decades, so it is not a quick fix.
Planners can start by mapping where existing networks run and zoning new data center land near them.
Why it matters
Where a heat network exists, a data center can sell heat the way it buys power. Cities planning new data center zones can plan the pipes at the same time.
Every figure in this article comes from the sources listed below, and where a number is company reported we say so. Our Eco Tools page has calculators for water, PUE, carbon and efficiency payback if you want to test the ideas yourself. If you spot a mistake, tell us and we will fix it.
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Submit your companySources: Stockholm Exergi heat recovery; Stockholm Data Parks announcement. Figures marked as company reported come from the company itself.
