Danfoss CEO: Data Centres Could Heat European Cities

Danish executive and chief executive of Danfoss, Kim Fausing, has argued his case for clear regulations for the green transition to avoid European companies being left behind.

As reported by the Financial Times, Kim Fausing has indicated that data centres could be a vital source of heat for cities across Europe moving forward. He explained that Frankfurt, a crucial data centre market within the continent, could have all its heating needs met by excess heat from data centres by the end of the decade.

“There’s a lot of controversy, really on the pure amount of power [that] data centres are going to need,” he tells the Financial Times. “But [they] could help us solve heating issues in certain cities if they are placed appropriately.”

Data centres and their continued sustainability concerns

Data centres are often criticised for their immense hunger for energy and, given the power and electricity demands technologies like AI are placing on facilities, the industry could soon face critical carbon concerns.

However, Kim Fausing highlights that the excess heat data centres produce could become a vital solution for heating cities if properly located. He highlights that business leaders want to show that decarbonisation could be a source of growth for Europe.

According to new research from McKinsey, European data centre demand is expected to peak to the point where it will more than triple by 2030. In order to meet IT load demands, more than US$250-300bn of investment will be needed in data centre infrastructure.

Such swelling demands for technology from customers has hit data centre operators like never before, as more demand leads to greater levels of emissions.

Tom Kingham, Design Lead Europe & Japan at CyrusOne previously told Data Centre Magazine: “The industry's growth, driven by increased demand for AI-infused systems and enterprise digitisation, is prompting a shift towards more renewable energy solutions, with data centres adopting renewable energy sources, energy-efficient cooling systems, and designs aimed at lower power usage effectiveness (PUE).

“To meet demands, data centres will need advancements in several critical areas, including the substantial heat generated by dense AI infrastructures.”

Keeping Europe on the map 

There is concern that Europe is not working fast enough to support a sustainable transition for its data centre industry. For instance, heat pump sales have slowed in recent months, with several hydrogen and green fuel projects cancelled, including Ørsted’s Flagship One green shipping fuels project.

“There’s a risk that Europe is left waiting on the platform” because of a lack of clear and long-term regulation that could help companies accelerate investment in green technologies, Kim Fausing says.

An example of excess heat reuse: Equinix data centre heat used to warm Paris 2024 Olympic swimming pools:

He explained how the region needed to speed up and simplify its subsidies for the green transition to allow businesses to compete with the People’s Republic of China and the US, who benefit from state support.

“European schemes are more clunky … Europe is quite good at analysing and talking, but much less good at actually acting,” he said.

Reusing excess heat could therefore be a welcome solution. According to the Financial Times, excess heat from Frankfurt’s data centres could provide nearby houses and offices with green heating by 2030.

If heat reuse can be implemented at scale, data centre operators could not only support local communities, but also implement suitable heat exchangers to enable reuse of excess heat.

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