Blogs

Finland, Sweden Warm Up to Data Centre District Heat Amid Lingering Sustainability Concerns

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
The Energy Mix Summary In wintry Nordic countries like Finland and Sweden, some people are warming up to the idea of having data centres as neighbours, but concerns about “sustainable digitization” linger. Data centres in several countries with colder climates are channelling excess heat from their facilities through underground piping to warm nearby homes, Bloomberg News reports . Kai Mykkanene, mayor of Espoo, Finland’s second-largest city, said a new cluster of Microsoft data centres soon to be connected to the city’s district heating network will help eliminate local carbon emissions by 2030. Continue Reading #News #DataCenter #Dis ...

Equinix named global leader in data centre sustainability

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
IT Brief Summary Equinix has been named a Leader in a new global assessment of data centre sustainability by research group IDC MarketScape. The study is IDC's first worldwide evaluation of sustainability practices among data centre services providers. It assesses strategy and execution over a three to five-year period and in the near term. IDC cites waste heat reuse as one area of progress. Equinix exported 14.5 GWh of residual heat from its data centre operations in 2024. This represented a 245% increase over the previous year. Sites in Helsinki, Toronto and Paris supplied excess thermal energy into municipal district heating systems and ...

Building the future-ready datacentre

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
The A Register Summary The way that organisations plan, design and run a datacentre was already under pressure. AI has turned that pressure into a once-in-generation stress test, one that is inspiring a top-to-bottom rethink of what the datacentre does, how it does it, and where. AI factories are inevitably power-hungry by design. Energy strategy – always important – becomes a first-order architectural decision. Strong frames this decision in two stages. “If we’re talking huge amounts of power, the first thing you’ve got to consider is where you’re going to get that power from,” he says. “The second is what you’re going to do with the heat that comes ...

The Future of District Energy:  Advice from Today’s Leaders to Tomorrow’s Trailblazers

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
Around the world, the district energy industry is growing and rapidly evolving, integrating emerging technologies to support and accelerate the energy transition toward lower-carbon solutions. In most cities, the energy consumed to heat and cool buildings makes up more than 51% of primary energy use, making it imperative that thermal energy systems become lower-carbon and more sustainable. In recent years, the industry has attracted a new wave of talented younger people seeking to merge their professional careers with a calling for a more mission-centered future. IDEA is at the center of this trend, connecting people eager to learn with those willing to share ...

Meet the biggest heat pumps in the world

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
BBC Summary The pipe that will supply the heat pump, drawing water from the River Rhine in Germany, is so big that you could walk through it, fully upright, I'm told. "We plan to take 10,000 litres per second," says Felix Hack, project manager at MVV Environment, an energy company, as he describes the 2m diameter pipes that will suck up river water in Mannheim, and then return it once heat from the water has been harvested. That's enough to supply around 40,000 homes, in total, via a district heating system. MVV Energie aims to build the system on the site of a coal power plant that is converting to cleaner technologies. The scale of the heat pumps ...

Geothermal district heating: Using the earth’s heat to warm our cities

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
OMV Summary As European cities race toward climate neutrality, innovative technologies, bold city strategies and new policies are supporting geothermal energy as a clean, scalable, local and independent solution for district heating. Cities produce more than 70% of global CO 2 emissions . The world cannot decarbonize without addressing the challenge of urban sustainability. In response, the EU has embarked on an ambitious mission to establish 100 climate neutral and smart cities by 2030, many of which have committed to cutting carbon emissions by 55% . One major challenge to urban decarbonization is ...

Korea in district heating SMR tie-in

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
Nuclear Engineering Summary Finnish start-up Steady Energy is to co-operate with South Korea’s largest district heating provider, Korea District Heating Corp on heat-only small modular reactors (SMRs). “Under the brand slogan Better World with Clean Energy, we will collaborate with Steady Energy to provide carbon-free heat and lead the way in stabilising the national energy grid and achieving carbon neutrality”, said Korea District Heating Corp President & CEO Jeong Yong-ki. Steady Energy, spun out of the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland in 2023, is developing the LDR-50 SMR. It is designed to only produce heat and is focused on district ...

Tabreed and Sparklo Join Forces to Boost UAE’s Recycling Infrastructure and Promote Sustainability

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
Albawaba Summary Tabreed, the world’s leading district cooling company, has announced a new sustainability partnership with Sparklo, a UAE-based cleantech company building smart recycling infrastructure. The collaboration will see the installation of 16 reverse vending machines (RVMs) – called Sparklomats – across the UAE, enabling residents to recycle plastic bottles and aluminium cans in exchange for digital rewards. In accordance with the agreement signed by Khalid Al Marzouqi, Chief Executive Officer of Tabreed, and Sparklo’s founder, Maxim Kaplevich, one Sparklomat has been installed at Tabreed’s headquarters, while 15 others will be placed in high-traffic ...

Maritime Aquarium holds ceremony revealing new addition to its building

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
news 12 Summary The Maritime Aquarium held a ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday to unveil its new combined heat and power system. The system is a highly efficient, innovative technology that substantially reduces carbon emissions. The event brought together state residents, aquarium leaders and government officials to celebrate the system's reveal. Implementation of the heat waste system is a step forward for the aquarium to help reach net carbon neutrality by 2035. Continue Reading #News #CHP

Fengate acquires remaining stake in 440-megawatt Texas cogeneration asset

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
The Star Summary Fengate Asset Management (Fengate) today announced it has acquired the remaining equity interest in Freeport Power Limited (FPL), which owns a 440-megawatt cogeneration facility in Texas. “At a time of an increasing grid supply-demand imbalance, our two facilities continue to provide reliable and cost-effective power and steam to Dow’s Freeport site, the largest integrated chemical manufacturing complex in the Western Hemisphere,” said Greg Calhoun, Managing Director and Head of Energy Transition at Fengate. Continue Reading #News #CHP

Uzbekistan stepping up its cogeneration capacity with new 100 MW project

By District Energy posted 2 days ago
Trend AZ Summary Uzbekistan has kicked off a public-private partnership project to get the ball rolling on a 100-megawatt cogeneration facility in Tashkent, Trend reports via the press service of the President of Uzbekistan. The forthcoming combined heat and power installation will incorporate 70 gas reciprocating engines provided by the UK-based entity Rolls-Royce, facilitating the concurrent production of electrical power and thermal energy. Continue Reading #News #CHP

Empower Announces Diamond Sponsorship of IDEA Conferences and Exhibitions 2026

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
Empower Summary Emirates Central Cooling Systems Corporation PJSC (Empower), the world’s largest district cooling services provider, has announced its Diamond Sponsorship of the International District Energy Association (IDEA) conferences and exhibitions throughout 2026, including IDEA Campus Energy 2026 and IDEA 2026, among others, as part of IDEA’s Annual Sustaining Sponsor programme. Empower’s sponsorship of these events for the third consecutive year underscores its leading position in the global district cooling sector and its pivotal role in advancing the industry and fostering communication and collaboration among key players in the energy and cooling ...

RMF Engineering Named one of The Baltimore Sun’s Top Workplaces

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
LinkedIn Summary RMF Engineering has been named one of The Baltimore Sun ’s Top Workplaces in the mid-size category! This recognition reflects the strength of our people, their passion, and the culture they help shape. We’re committed to a workplace where teamwork, growth, and technical excellence thrive, and where every employee can make a meaningful impact. Together, we’re building resilient, sustainable environments that make a lasting difference in the communities and campuses where we live, work and enhance wellbeing. Continue Reading #News #RMFEngineering #DistrictEnergy #MemberNewsIDEA

See Inside the AI Data Centers Helping to Power the Internet

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
Today Summary From emails to social media to online shopping, banking and chatting — everything we rely on everyday goes through an AI data center. The biggest concentration of those centers anywhere in the world sits in Loudon County, Virginia, where two-thirds of the world’s internet traffic flows. Reporting for TODAY, NBC’s Tom Costello shares an inside look at the Digital Realty Innovation Lab that houses the servers and processors that power the internet and AI. Watch Report #News #DataCenter

New York commits $40 million to build advanced nuclear, clean energy workforce

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
Finger Lakes Summary New York is expanding its investment in clean energy jobs with $40 million in new annual workforce development funding over the next four years to support advanced nuclear energy and high-demand clean energy careers statewide. The funding was approved Dec. 9 by the board of trustees of the New York Power Authority and is designed to prepare New Yorkers for jobs tied to advanced nuclear power, artificial intelligence, electromechanical trades and advanced power systems. The initiative directly supports efforts to develop at least one gigawatt of advanced nuclear power in Upstate New York. In addition to the nuclear workforce funding, ...

Nearly $1.2 Million Awarded to UMass Amherst’s Energy Transition Institute

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
UMass Summary The Energy Transition Institute (ETI) at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has been awarded nearly $1.2 million to support two key initiatives in designing a just, sustainable energy system. The funds, provided by the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources (DOER) and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), will support both efforts in Holyoke to design a sustainable energy system that meets the needs of those with low to moderate incomes, as well as graduate student research through the university’s Elevating Equity Values in the Transition of the Energy (ELEVATE) program. “These programs will directly benefit ...

UConn Ranked 8th Most Sustainable University in the World

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
UConn Today Summary For five years in a row, UConn has been named one of the top 10 most sustainable universities in the world by UI GreenMetric. The UI GreenMetric World University Rankings is a comprehensive international system that reviews 1,745 colleges and universities in 105 countries on their sustainability performance. For 2025, UConn ranks at number eight, two spots higher than its 10th place ranking in 2024. Continue Reading #News #UniversityofConnecticut #MemberNewsIDEA

A major networked geothermal project gets underway in Connecticut

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
Canary Media Summary New Haven, Connecticut, has broken ground on an ambitious geothermal energy network that will provide low-emission heating and cooling to the city’s bustling, historic Union Station and a new public housing complex across the street. The project will play a crucial role in the city’s attempt to decarbonize all municipal buildings and transportation by the end of 2030 . As one of Connecticut’s first geothermal energy networks, it will also serve as a case study of how well the technology can both lower energy costs and reduce greenhouse gas emissions as the state considers promoting wider adoption of these systems. “ The ...

Wind turbine the focus for Brae district heating study

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
Shetland News Summary THE IDEA of a Brae district heating system getting power from the electricity grid has been ruled out due to the anticipated cost. Instead, the only “economically viable” option would be an off-grid scheme such as a wind turbine, with energy generation “not for profit”. A feasibility study of a district heating scheme in Brae has been undertaken by consultants COWI, as part of the UK Government funded Rural Energy Hub project which also involves Shetland Islands Council (SIC). Continue Reading #News #DistrictHeating

Tallinn Airport is now carbon neutral

By District Energy posted 7 days ago
Airports Summary “Since 2018, we have systematically collected data, calculated and reduced our carbon footprint , and involved our partners in the process. Everyone’s contribution has been invaluable, and the change in our employees’ behaviour has had a major impact – the CO₂e emissions per employee at Tallinn Airport have decreased from 38 tonnes to just 1.3 tonnes,” said Anneli Turkin , member of the management board of Tallinn Airport . According to Turkin, the most significant impact has come from the installation of solar parks at airports across Estonia and the transition to renewable electricity and district heating in Tallinn. Continue ...