Microsoft has teamed up with Fortum, a Finnish state-owned energy company, to allow excess heat from new data centres in Southern Finland to be used to warm local homes and businesses.
The project is part of a new data centre region Microsoft plans to build near Helsinki, which will be powered entirely by renewable energy. The data centres will generate 60% of the heating in the surrounding area once they are operational, according to Fortum.
Fortum already uses heat capture and distribution through a 560-mile network of insulated underground pipes to transport waste heat in the form of hot water to 250,000 customers in Espoo, Kauniainen, and Kirkkonummi. According to the company, the waste heat recycling project in the data centre region will be “the largest of its kind in the world.”
The location for Microsoft’s new data centres was chosen because it provided “independent power, networking, and cooling for additional tolerance” to failures. “We’re incredibly proud of how this datacenter will sustainably power Finnish digital transformation while also heating Finnish homes and businesses and helping cities meet their emissions targets,” said Cindy Rose, Microsoft Western Europe President.
The data centres will serve Microsoft’s existing customers in Finland, including Nokia, Elisa, Fortum, S-Bank, Tietoevry, HUS, Vero, and Valtori, once they are completed.
