A data center transformed into a giant boiler
The first heat network powered by energy from computer data centers will see the light of day soon. In the long run, this network will avoid the annual emissions of 5.400 tons of CO2. Zoom on a promising technological process.
Geothermal energy, biomass and even wastewater ... In recent years, many innovative processes have been put in place to supply heat to urban heating networks. Their objective, to overcome the constant rise in the price of energy and the use of fossil resources such as fuel oil or gas. A next technological step is to recover energy from data centers.
Data center, a new heating mode
In consultation with the New Urban Agglomeration Union of Val d'Europe (San), Dalkia will build a new heat network that will be powered by energy recovery from a data center of a banking institution. A first in France. Indeed, these data centers, made up of powerful computer equipment, are very large consumers of energy, in particular to be constantly refreshed by cold production units. A data center of 10.000 m2 would consume as much electricity as an average city of 50.000 inhabitants. In addition, the electricity consumption of these centers represents a significant cost in financial terms but also a considerable impact on the environment.
"Dalkia therefore had the idea of recovering the volumes of hot air generated by the cooling production units and of using them for the benefit of the heating network", explains Jean-Philippe Buisson, Director of Dalkia Ile de France. Usually lost, the heat released by the cooling units and discharged in the form of hot air will be recovered by heat exchangers. At the outlet of the exchangers, water at 55 ° C will flow through the pipes of the business park network and will ensure the production of heating and hot water.
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