DCD Zero Downtime: The Bi-Weekly Data Center Show Episode 92 - Decarbonizing district heating through data center waste heat with Drew Turner, Danfoss
Nov 27, 2025
In this conversation with Drew Turner, Director of Global Decarbonization Solutions at Danfoss, listeners explore innovative ways to utilize data center waste heat for district heating, showcasing projects across Europe. Drew highlights the strategic importance of waste heat and its role in sustainability. He discusses retrofitting benefits, potential applications in pools and aquaculture, and the integration of AI and HPC as heat sources. Drew also emphasizes the need for modernizing existing systems and the future of on-site renewable energy in achieving decarbonization.
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Waste Heat As Strategic Baseload
- Data center waste heat is becoming a strategic baseload asset for electrified heating systems.
- Reusing that heat also provides 'free cooling' and reduces data center operating costs.
Choose Markets With Enabling Conditions
- Target heat reuse projects where district energy networks already exist and operate at lower temperatures.
- Also prioritise markets with favourable electricity-to-gas cost ratios to ensure viable payback.
Regulation Shapes Heat Reuse Economics
- Policy and tax structures materially affect the electricity-to-gas cost ratio and the business case.
- Regulators can speed adoption by removing taxes on electricity and subsidies on gas.