Meta data center waste heat warms thousands of homes in Odense

In Odense, Denmark, waste heat generated by Meta's data center is being repurposed to provide heating for approximately 9,000 homes. The facility, which houses hundreds of thousands of servers running continuously, converts about 90 percent of its consumed electricity into waste heat.

To make this energy usable for residential heating, the heat is transferred from the server racks to the local district heating network. The water is then processed through industrial ammonia-based heat pumps at the nearby Tietgenbyen heating center, which raises the temperature to between 70 and 75 degrees Celsius. This heated water is subsequently distributed through the city's regional heating grid to residential radiators.

Since its implementation in 2020, the system's capacity has expanded. Meta provides approximately 165,000 megawatt-hours of waste heat annually to the local heating company, Fjernvarme Fyn, at no cost. While the heat source is free, residents still pay for the heating services provided by the utility company.