Data centers explore repurposing waste heat for community use

Efforts to repurpose waste heat from data centers are gaining momentum in both the United States and Europe. In Virginia, the General Assembly passed HB 323, a law directing Virginia Energy to study opportunities for connecting data centers to heat users. This initiative follows growing local opposition to data center expansion and seeks to model solutions used in the Nordics and the Netherlands. Proponents suggest that the heat generated by these facilities could be utilized for purposes such as warming greenhouses.

In Denmark, a Meta-owned data center in Odense has implemented a system to channel server heat into the local district-heating network. Designed by engineering firm Ramboll, the system uses ammonia heat pumps to upgrade captured heat to temperatures between 70 and 75°C. Meta reports that this infrastructure has provided approximately 165,000 megawatt-hours of heating, serving roughly 11,000 local households.