Last Update: 04/05/2026 at 2:50 PM EST
Data Centers Turn Waste Heat Useful
Coverage from Propmodo, Robotdyn, and others
Articles
4
Latest Article
01/28
Active Days
19
Executive Summary
Data centers in Europe, North America and China are capturing waste heat for buildings, districts and farms, cutting boiler use and emissions
- AWS uses waste heat from its Tallaght data center for district heating in South Dublin
- Tallaght supplied more than 90 percent of TU Dublins heating demand in 2024
- Equinix and Helen route waste heat into Helsinkis district heating network
- Stockholm Data Parks and Microsoft plan to feed heat into existing thermal networks
- A Canadian Equinix site serves homes, a hotel, hospital, shopping center and pool
- Danish researchers built passive thermosiphon cooling that delivers 60 to 80 C heat
- The Huailai project in Hebei uses heat pumps and PCM storage to reuse AI data center heat
Quick Facts
- What: Capture waste heat and feed it into heating systems
- Where: Cities across Europe North America and northern China
- Why: To reduce boiler use emissions and heating costs
- Who: Data center operators researchers and local energy partners
- When: Projects reported across the 2020s and January 2026
Coverage Timeline: 19 Days
Featured Article
Danish Technological Institute and Heatflow demonstrate a passive thermosiphon cooling system for data centers that can waste heat at 60-80 C and feed into centralized heat networks.
Additional Articles
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In the 2020s, projects in Ireland, Nordic Europe, Canada, and Seattle demonstrate data centers using heat pumps to feed district heating systems.
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Danish Technological Institute researchers, with Heatflow and partners in Belgium and Germany, demonstrated a passive two phase cooling system for data centers as part of the AM2PC project.
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Huiyuan Cowins Technology Group announces a data center waste heat recovery system based on water source heat pumps in Huailai, Hebei on 19 January 2026.