Blogs

Nordic homes are being warmed by waste heat from massive data centers

By District Energy posted 17 hours ago
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EHN Summary In Finland and Sweden, tech giants are turning energy-hungry data centers into unlikely allies in the fight against carbon emissions by piping their waste heat into homes. Microsoft and other companies are building large-scale data centers in Nordic countries, where cold climates, cheap renewable power, and district heating infrastructure allow waste heat to be captured and reused. The world wants clean air and fast data. People demand carbon cuts but can’t stop streaming. This partnership between Big Tech and Nordic district heating gives us a glimpse at how we might survive our own contradictions. Waste heat reuse doesn’t erase the environmental ...
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Three former Coast Guard biomass boilers on way to Alaska

By District Energy posted 17 hours ago
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Biomass Magazine Summary Three biomass boilers are being shipped to Haines, Alaska, with the potential to heat a variety of buildings throughout town. The boilers are expected to arrive next month and utilize either wood pellets or locally produced wood chips as a feedstock. Upon arrival in Haines, the boilers manufactured by Unilux will remain in storage for the next year or so. Twelve to 24 months later they are expected to be up and running, displacing around 80,000 gallons of heating oil. “We are either going to be installing biomass heat in eight or nine municipal buildings, or creating a district heating system,” said Darsie Culbeck, contractor ...
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Prefab data center deployed in Merikarvia, Finland, to power district heating network

By District Energy posted 17 hours ago
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DCD Summary A data center is being deployed in Merikarvia, Finland, as part of a district heating scheme. The Municipality of Merikarvia and Vatajankoski Oy in April agreed to build a 1.5MW data center in Merikarvia, with the waste heat from the facility to be used in the local district heating network. The goal is for the data center to be producing heat on the site by early autumn 2025. According to Satakunnan Kansa , the prefabricated modular facility has already been deployed and is running – but hasn’t yet been fully connected to the heat network. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter #DistrictHeating
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Bosnian municipalities learning from Swedish sustainability efforts

By District Energy posted 17 hours ago
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SEI Summary As part of the Sustainable Transition of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH SuTra) project, a delegation of mayors and municipal staff from partner municipalities travelled to Sweden to explore cutting-edge developments in technology, governance and research supporting a green and just transition. At E.ON’s facility in Högbytorp, north of Stockholm, the delegation witnessed practical circular energy solutions in action – such as biogas production from organic waste and district heating powered by waste incineration. Firsthand observation of the infrastructure and safety systems gave participants a deeper understanding of how resource recovery can contribute ...
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Virtus breaks ground on data center campus in Berlin, Germany

By District Energy posted 17 hours ago
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DCD Summary European data center firm Virtus has started construction on a new campus in Berlin, Germany. Plans for Virtus Berlin 1 were announced in May 2023 . DATA2HEAT, a joint venture of Investa Real Estate and GASAG Group subsidiary GASAG Solution Plus, will make the data center’s waste heat usable and feed it into a heating network. At full build-out, the campus has the potential to supply around 5,000 households with sustainable local heating. Georg Friedrichs, CEO of GASAG, added: “In the GASAG Group, we are strongly committed to the use of waste heat from data centers. In Berlin, we make it visible how digitalization and warmth can go hand ...
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Strong fossil fuel decline in EU district heating and cooling finds report

By District Energy posted 17 hours ago
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PEI Summary A strong decline in fossil fuel use has been observed in the EU district heating and cooling sector, driven by increasing rates of electrification and waste heat, according to Euroheat & Power’s latest DHC Market Outlook . According to the report , released today during the association’s Euroheat & Power Congress, for the first time, fossil fuels in the sector have declined significantly, with the contribution of coal and natural gas down respectively by 12.3% and 3.7%. Namely, the report finds that renewable energy and waste heat sources now represent 44.1% of the district heating and cooling energy mix, an increase of 9.4% since ...
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Fervo Energy Drills 15,000-FT, 500°F Geothermal Well, Pushing the Envelope for EGS Deployment

By District Energy posted 17 hours ago
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Business Wire Summary Fervo Energy today announced the successful drilling and logging of its Sugarloaf appraisal well, an operational achievement that demonstrates the rapid advancement and scalability of enhanced geothermal systems (“EGS”). The well was drilled to a true vertical depth of 15,765 feet and is projected to reach a bottomhole temperature of 520 °F after full thermal equilibration. Fervo completed the Sugarloaf well in just 16 drilling days, representing a 79% reduction in drilling time compared to the US Department of Energy baseline for ultradeep geothermal wells. The report highlights that Fervo’s proprietary EGS design successfully ...
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Driving Decarbonization Through District Steam: Con Edison's Plan to Reach Net Zero with the Largest Steam System in the United States

By District Energy posted 21 hours ago
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In a webinar hosted by the Urban Green Council, Con Edison President Matt Ketschke laid out an ambitious roadmap for how district steam can help New York City reach city- and state-wide energy goals. Read on to learn more about IDEA member company Con Edison’s plans to help ensure NYC’s renewable energy future based on that conversation. On the busy streets of Manhattan, beneath the towering skyscrapers and labyrinth of subway lines, an unsung hero has been heating and cooling the city that never sleeps for nearly 150 years. And it could be New York City's secret weapon in the global race to decarbonization. Con Edison’s district steam system began operations ...
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World’s largest 1 MW/100 MWh sand battery commissioned in Finland

By District Energy posted 21 hours ago
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pv magazine Summary Finnish startup Polar Night Energy has announced its industrial-scale sand battery in Pornainen, southern Finland, is now operational following commissioning by district heating company Loviisan Lämpö. The Pornainen sand battery delivers 1 MW of thermal power and offers a storage capacity of 100 MWh, making it 10 times larger than the world’s first commercial sand-based, high-temperature heat storage system launched in Kankaanpää in 2022 and the largest in the world to date. Continue Reading #News #DistrictHeating
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Discover what's possible, practical for homes on the Eco Solar Tour

By District Energy posted 21 hours ago
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Edmonton Journal Summary “Whether you are looking at a new home or planning on renovating your existing home, there are many ways to accomplish energy savings,” said Andrew Mills, Eco Solar Tour Society president. With Blatchford being one of Edmonton’s key sustainable and green neighbourhoods, it makes sense to put a bit of a spotlight on it, said Mills. Sites 5, 6 and 7 — sites 5 and 6 are only on the first day of the tour — highlight what the former municipal airport site is being transformed into. Site 5, Blatchford’s District Energy Sharing System — now entering its sixth year of delivering renewable energy to homes — provides the energy for hot ...
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Climate crisis: AI data centres to drive significant increase in energy demand and emissions

By District Energy posted 22 hours ago
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International Bar Association Summary In April, the International Energy Agency published a report on the ever-growing links between energy and artificial intelligence (AI). It projected that, by 2030, electricity demand from data centres will double globally – and that AI will be the most significant driver of this. Current projections suggest only half of this demand will be met by renewable energy sources. There is a willingness by the largest companies responsible for building AI-driven data centres to address environmental concernsThe expansion in initiatives such as district energy – in which excess heat from data centres is used to warm office ...
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Inside the P.E.I. energy systems plant, converting waste to energy

By District Energy posted 22 hours ago
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Penticon Herald Summary The P.E.I. Energy Systems facility has saved more than 300 million litres of fuel oil and 1.6 million cubic meters of landfill space — enough to fill the equivalent of 89 football fields 10 meters deep — over its 40 years of operation in Charlottetown. David Godkin, general manager of Enwave’s facility in Charlottetown, says the P.E.I. Energy Systems plant also produces electricity for its internal use and can provide enough energy on the grid to power about 65 small family homes for a year. Enwave has recently announced plans to expand, constructing a new plant that will be capable of processing up to 49,000 tonnes of waste. That’s ...
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Greece plans six waste-to-energy plants, set to meet EU landfilling limits

By District Energy posted 22 hours ago
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Balkan Green Energy News Summary Greece is transforming its waste management sector – dozens of units mechanically treating the material to feed six incinerators, covering all the regions. The Ministry of Environment and Energy is about to complete a strategic environmental assessment (SEA), after which its plan is to adopt a legal framework, before the end of the year. At least two of six plants would provide district heating. The combined annual capacity of the six units is projected at 1.19 million tons. The largest ones are the Attica project (356,000 tons) and the Kozani plant (288,000 tons). The latter, which would probably be located near PPC’s ...
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Cenk Güler to lead Ameresco’s Nuclear Energy innovation, supporting the expansion of Ameresco’s broad portfolio of energy infrastructure

By District Energy posted 22 hours ago
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Ameresco Summary Ameresco, Inc. , (NYSE: AMRC), a leading energy solutions provider dedicated to helping customers navigate the energy transition, today announced the appointment of Cenk Güler as Director of Nuclear Partnerships. This strategic hire underscores Ameresco’s commitment to offer the most advanced energy infrastructure to its portfolio of customers. In this newly created role, Cenk Güler will lead Ameresco’s entry into the nuclear energy market, with a focus on microreactor and Small Modular Reactor (SMR) technology. He will be responsible for strategic partnerships, technical diligence, and nuclear network development across the industry ...
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Two Singapore hospitals partner with Keppel to explore district cooling collaboration

By District Energy posted 22 hours ago
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MSN Summary Ng Teng Fong General Hospital (NTFGH) and Jurong Community Hospital (JCH) have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Keppel Ltd.’s Infrastructure Division to assess the feasibility of Keppel expanding its upcoming District Cooling System (DCS) plant in Jurong Lake District. Under the MoU, the exploratory study will include the DCS plant’s supply and service coverage of chilled water for the two hospitals. If the project moves forward with a formal agreement, both hospitals could eventually link up with the 29,000 Refrigerant Tonnes (RT) DCS plant, which will be a first in Singapore's healthcare sector. Continue Reading ...
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Amid rising heat, Paris expands a network of pipes to keep cool

By District Energy posted 22 hours ago
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The World Summary Climate change is causing France to experience some of the largest temperature increases in Europe. To adapt to this new reality, Paris is expanding an underground network of pipes that move cold water around certain buildings, keeping them cool. Host Carolyn Beeler speaks with Raphaelle Nayral, the secretary general of Fraicher de Paris, about how this district cooling system works, why the expansion is needed, and how it fits into Paris’ wider adaptation plans. Listen Now #News #DistrictCooling
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Empower Wins Three Global Awards at International District Energy Association (IDEA) Conference and Exhibition in the United States

By District Energy posted 22 hours ago
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Government of Dubai Summary Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC (Empower), the world's largest district cooling services provider, has won three global awards at the International District Energy Association (IDEA 2025) Conference and Exhibition held in Minneapolis, USA. Empower won two gold awards in the categories ‘Total Number of Buildings Committed’ & 'Total Building Area Committed’ for district cooling services outside North America. Additionally, Empower received the prestigious ‘Innovation Award Honorable Mention for District Cooling Plant Optimisation Using Machine Learning’. The IDEA recognized Empower's achievement, ...
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Biomass power can save UK energy system up to £900 million a year by balancing variable renewables

By District Energy posted 23 hours ago
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Biomass Magazine Summary A new report by Baringa on behalf of the Renewable Energy Association (REA) finds that the use of biomass delivers significant benefits to the U.K. energy system. In 2024, biomass and broader bioenergy provided around 14% of the U.K.’s total electricity generation. There are more than 200 biomass combined-heat-and-power (CHP) or power plants operating across the U.K. Biomass also has additional applications in areas such as the decarbonization of high-emissions sectors, including steel and chemical manufacturing, as well as the production of sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). Continue Reading #News #CHP
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Everything you need to know about the £30 million transformation of the former Strathclyde Union on John Street

By District Energy posted 23 hours ago
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Glasgow World Summary The University of Strathclyde’s former Student Union building on John Street will be transformed into a digital, entrepreneurial and social engagement hub. The building has lain empty since Strath Union moved to its new home in the University’s Learning & Teaching Building on Richmond Street in 2021, though part of the building incorporates the University’s combined heat & power district heating system. Scheduled for completion in 2026, the refurbishment of the 10-storey, 5,535 square metre former student union premises, originally built in 1959, will emit around 67% less carbon when compared to a new-build, while ...
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Wyoming Part of Massive Geothermal Reserve That Could Power 10% of America

By District Energy posted 23 hours ago
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Cowboy State Daily Summary A new federal assessment identified Wyoming as part of a massive underground geothermal energy resource that could generate electricity equal to 10% of America's current power supply, though state-specific research suggests only modest potential for Wyoming. A May U.S. Geological Survey's report on geothermal systems in the Great Basin found that the arid lands of Nevada and adjoining parts of California, Oregon, Idaho, Utah and a sliver of Wyoming's western border with Idaho contain enough geothermal energy to generate 135 gigawatts of electricity from the upper 6 kilometers of the Earth's crust. What’s happening in the ...
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