Equinix’s Heat Export Programme brings heat from data centres to neighbouring buildings

European cities are finding creative ways to use the heat generated by data centres that power AI. The latest facility built by Equinix in the Paris suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, for example, has kept France’s Olympic swimming pools warm. The hot air produced in the data centre, called PA10, is channelled and used as a heating source elsewhere to prevent its servers from getting too hot. And it’s supposed to be able to produce enough heat to keep 1,600 homes warm, according to Nicolas Buono, senior director of operations at Equinix.

But critics believe that this diverts attention from the growing energy demands stimulated by the construction of more data centres for AI, according to a report in Wired.

What is known for sure is that data centres are sitting on a gold mine of wasted heat. The PA10 project shows how this heat can be reused for everything from growing fruit to heating entire neighbourhoods. Simply capture it, transfer it and use it. This could revolutionise energy efficiency in technology.

It all happens through a process known as ‘heat export’. Conventionally, data centre operators remove the waste heat generated by cooling IT equipment and reject this heat into the atmosphere. In a common scenario, fans transport the air heated by the IT equipment to the data centre’s air conditioning system, where this heat is transferred from the air to the water. The heated water is then transported to the data centre’s cooling system.

Now, some of the heat from the PA10 is transferred to a heat exchanger – a series of plates that allow it to reach the main district heating system. In many cases, the heating network operator uses a heat pump to raise the temperature of the water so that it is suitable for the community’s heating needs. It then distributes the heated water through underground pipes, usually installed under roads and pavements.

‘There was a study by Europeheat & Power that estimated that there is around 77 terawatt-hours of energy available in the form of heat that could be captured from data centres,’ comments Noah Nkonge, Senior Manager of Sustainability and Heat Export at Equinix.

So why aren’t we doing something similar everywhere?

Equinix says it is committed to expanding its Heat Export programme wherever local conditions are appropriate, and there are interested partners. Heat network operators, energy utilities and local municipalities are just a few examples of organisations the company can partner with to bring heat export projects to life.

The company has implemented several heat export initiatives in Europe and the Americas with projects in France, Finland, Germany, Ireland, Switzerland and Canada. In Toronto, for example, the heat exported from TR5, one of Equinix’s data centres in the city, is distributed to several residential buildings, as well as a nearby hotel, a university and a local shopping mall in downtown Markham. TR5 also serves several buildings with hot water all year round, thanks to the heating network of Equinix’s energy partner, Markham District Energy.