F E A T U R E able to deliver a data centre with enhanced High-Performance Compute( HPC) capabilities. Recovered heat began to be used for heating and hot water across the main campus and the data centre now meets both current and future research computing needs, while supporting sustainability.

From a more technical perspective, the university’ s heat reuse system leverages the HACS and feeds heat pumps and heat exchangers, providing 75c water for both storage and supply for heating. The system, for example, can provide 2.8 million back-to-back showers for students, up to 52 simultaneously, delivering a valuable resource for the institution.

Heat reuse at larger scale

In Sweden, AI-Ready operator, EcoDataCenter, has also used this form of energy tech and aimed to build a truly sustainable data centre at the heart of Falun. As such, the company needed safe and reliable power systems that would ensure uptime and energy efficiency, with the opportunity for heat reuse to contribute towards delivering a low Power Usage Effectiveness rating( PUE).

EcoDataCenter partnered with Schneider Electric from the outset, using its energy technology and digital software to support more than 3,750 kW of customer load, with connected sensor and meter monitoring for granular facility temperature control. The data centre achieves new levels of efficiency, with an EER of 132 and a PUE of 1.15 by reusing low-grade waste heat.

These examples, alongside many others in Clondalkin and Tallaght in Ireland, Frankfurt in Germany, Hamina in Finland and Odense in Denmark, all highlight the growing opportunity for operators to achieve net zero efforts while contributing to local communities.

From waste to value: End-to-end heat reuse

From a broader perspective, cooling sits at the centre of any effective heat reuse strategy and in order to enable heat reuse, several energy technologies must work together to capitalise on this opportunity.

Schneider Electric is helping deliver heat-recovery-ready infrastructure at every layer of the stack, from co-engineered NVIDIA GB200 reference designs and Motivair direct liquid cooling units, to its portfolio of data centre solutions – bringing power, cooling, management and security to aid IT deployments in all environments, while enabling organisations to optimise cooling performance and unlock opportunities for heat reuse.

Schneider Electric’ s Matthew Baynes, VP, Secure Power & Data Centres in the UK & Ireland

At the cooling level, InRow cooling, hot aisle containment, high-efficiency chilled water systems, Coolant Distribution Units( CDUs), together with intelligent environmental monitoring, all help operators maintain highly thermal environments while supporting heat recovery initiatives.

Power systems, including UPS, breakers and smart panels, all help to reduce electrical losses with less waste heat in electrical rooms, meaning more predictable heat capture from IT loads.

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