Blogs

District Cooling Enters the Infrastructure Mainstream

By District Energy posted yesterday
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Cool Coaltion Summary Cities are running into the same cooling problem from different directions: rising heat, rising demand, constrained grids, and building-by-building systems that are no longer fit for dense urban growth. Together, these pressures are pushing district cooling into the mainstream as a standardized infrastructure option for urban energy planning, capable of aggregating demand, reducing peak loads and supporting more efficient growth. The April 2026 Cool Talk, opened by IDEA President & CEO, Rob Thornton, moderated by Second Vice Chair, Executive Committee, IDEA Board of Directors, convened global leaders in district cooling to examine ...
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Deep Green & Zendo: Data Centre to Heat UK Swimming Pool

By District Energy posted yesterday
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DataCentre Summary Deep Green has partnered with energy technology company Zendo Energy (Zendo) to support a new generation of AI-ready data centres powered by renewables and intelligent energy management systems. The site captures excess heat from servers and redirects it to Trafford Leisure Centre’s swimming pool, reducing energy costs for the facility by approximately £80,000 (US$109,000) per year while cutting CO₂ emissions. Deep Green’s approach focuses on deploying smaller modular data centres close to locations where waste heat can be reused. These sites are designed to support local infrastructure such as swimming pools district heating ...
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Cascade explores geothermal energy project to cut city heating costs

By District Energy posted yesterday
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IdahoNews6 Summary Geothermal energy is cheap and readily available in many parts of Idaho. The City of Cascade is exploring the potential of tapping into that energy source to cut down on energy costs for residents in the district. That’s where the Department of Energy comes in. The project is supported by a $200,000 grant, along with other grant money, to help design a geothermal district heating and cooling system for the entire city and potentially leverage seven existing wells. Continue Reading #News #GeothermalandGeo-Exchange #DepartmentofEnergy #MemberNewsIDEA #DistrictHeating
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Empower reports 44% YoY growth in Q1 2026 Net Profit to AED 208 million, with revenue reaching AED 631 million

By District Energy posted yesterday
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Government of Dubai Summary Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC, the world's largest district cooling services provider, has announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2026. The company reported total revenue of AED 631 million, representing an increase of 16.8% compared to the same period in 2025. Empower CEO H.E. Ahmad Bin Shafar, said, “The results reflect the strength of Empower’s business model and our ability to deliver sustainable growth. The exceptional performance in revenue and net profit during the first quarter of 2026 was driven by higher capacity additions and a reduction in operational costs, supported ...
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Canada looks deep inside old coal mines and finds a clean energy alternative that could turn abandoned fossil fuel sites into part of the post-oil future

By District Energy posted yesterday
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Okdiario Summary Cumberland, British Columbia is exploring a clean energy idea that sounds almost too simple. The town wants to use water sitting in abandoned coal mines to heat buildings in winter and cool them in summer. If Cumberland feels like a one-off experiment, it is not. Nova Scotia’s government says Springhill became an early leader in abandoned mine geothermal heating and cooling, with research and pilots dating back to the mid-1980s and systems still in use today. In British Columbia, the province said Vancouver Island University tapped flooded Wakesiah mine workings under its Nanaimo campus through a district geo exchange system that ...
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Bunkers, Mines, and Caverns: The World of Underground Data Centers

By District Energy posted yesterday
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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, ...
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District cooling as a game-changing climate solution

By District Energy posted yesterday
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The Hindu Business Line Summary In the summer of 2024, Rajasthan recorded temperatures exceeding 50°C. Delhi is right now in the middle of a heat wave. A super El Nino is expected to affect the South-West monsoon with resultant heat impacts this year. With 57 per cent of Indian districts now facing high to very high heat risk, it is no surprise that India has one of the highest demands for cooling of any nation on earth. The more we cool this way, the more we heat the city that needs the cooling in the first place. Perhaps it’s time to look at District Cooling Systems (DCSs) as a potential solution. Continue Reading #News #DistrictCool ...
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Stantec to oversee new Tees Valley energy-from-waste plant

By District Energy posted yesterday
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New Civil Engineer Summary Sustainable engineering and architectural consultancy firm Stantec has been appointed to provide technical oversight and advisory services for a new 450,000t-per-year energy-from-waste plant to be built in Redcar, to treat residual household waste from across the North-East. Designs for the facility have been drawn to be “carbon capture and combined heat and power ready”, with space allocated for future carbon capture infrastructure and ongoing work to secure funding for integration. Continue Reading #News #MemberNewsIDEA #Stantec #CHP
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Puget Sound Energy: TENs developer partner opportunity

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
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Puget Sound Energy is seeking qualified developer partners to participate in a pilot project exploring Thermal Energy Networks (TENs) in our service area. TENs are district-scale systems that connect multiple buildings through shared underground piping to transfer thermal energy for heating and cooling. These networks can improve efficiency, reduce emissions, and support long-term building decarbonization. Through this Request for Qualifications (RFQ) launching on May 14, PSE is looking for experienced partners with the capability to develop, finance, construct, own, and operate a Thermal Energy Network at Seattle University. For initial ...
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How District Energy Puts Carbon Neutrality Within Reach for Higher Education

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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School Construction News Summary Check out the recent article by Rob Thornton, noting that many colleges and universities have ambitious carbon-neutrality goals, but are struggling to meet them because they focus too heavily on individual buildings instead of campus-wide energy systems. District energy — centralized heating and cooling networks serving multiple buildings — is one of the most practical ways for higher education institutions to decarbonize at scale. Includes some key lessons for campus leaders and project teams. Read the entire article here #Content #MemberNewsIDEA #DistrictEnergy
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Why Pipes are Key for Efficient Data Centre Cooling Systems

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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DataCentre Summary Polypropylene piping systems aim to boost efficiency and waste heat reuse in high-density data centre environments - aquatherm can target cooling demands. Alongside cooling , operators are under growing pressure to improve sustainability and extract value from excess heat. aquatherm energy, a pre-insulated piping system, is designed to enable low-loss transport of hot and cold fluids, supporting integration with district heating networks. Continue Reading #News #DistrictHeating #MemberNewsIDEA #aquatherm
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Google launches its first data center project in Austria

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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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
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Drilling starts for geothermal district heating project in Meudon, France

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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Think GeoEnergy Summary Drilling has started for a geothermal doublet in Meudon, France that will transition the heating network from the current gas-fired system to geothermal heat. The project envisions the transition of the Meudon-la-Forêt heating network from a gas-fired boiler that had been built in 1961. When operation, geothermal energy will be supplying the district heating network with 83% renewable energy, thus reducing CO2 emissions by 17,700 tons annually. No fewer than 7800 homes and public facilities will be supplied with geothermal heating. Continue Reading #News #GeothermalandGeo-Exchange #DistrictHeating
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Blackburn Council's 'heat network' plan for its buildings

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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Lancashire Telegraph Summary Blackburn with Darwen Council is powering ahead with its research into whether a special ‘heat network’ to warm its buildings could cut energy costs and carbon emissions. In February 2024 it used a £96,880 grant from the government to assess the feasibility of the proposal for 13 of its Blackburn town centre sites. Now it has been given another £100,000 by the Department for Energy, Security and Net Zero’s Heat Networks Delivery Unit (HNDU) to further examine the viability of the project for between 50 and 120 buildings. Continue Reading #News #DistrictHeating
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Thermal Energy Networks Turn Data Center Waste Heat into a Hot Commodity

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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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 ...
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Partnership uses Urmston data centre’s heat to warm Trafford Leisure Centre pool

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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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
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Downtown Phoenix's healthcare corridor is getting a carbon-free cooling backbone

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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Phoenix Business Journal Summary In a desert climate where cooling accounts for a significant share of a building's operating costs — and where even brief interruptions to temperature-controlled environments can compromise research integrity, patient safety, or pharmaceutical storage — the energy infrastructure underneath a healthcare facility matters enormously. Downtown Phoenix's healthcare and biomedical research institutions have quietly solved that problem by connecting to one of the most reliable district energy systems in the American Southwest. On March 18, Cordia broke ground on Energy Center Phoenix Plant 4, a $75 million carbon-free chilled ...
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Microgrids to fuel data centre growth

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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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 ...
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SWEP Brazed Plate Heat Exchangers Turn Data Center Waste Heat Into Energy

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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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 ...
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Texas Tech University - Associate Managing Director, Technical Services

By District Energy posted 3 days ago
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Texas Tech University Associate Managing Director, Technical Services (Energy & Utilities) Texas Tech University is hiring an Associate Managing Director, Technical Services (Energy & Utilities) in Lubbock, TX. This role sits at the center of a rapidly growing R1 institution where infrastructure directly enables academic and research excellence. This is not just about operations. It is a leadership role focused on guiding teams, shaping strategy, and driving the future of a complex, campus-wide utility enterprise. Lead a $20M+ utility operation supporting a 40,000+ student campus Oversee two central plants and an extensive distribution ...
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