Microsoft Data Centres to Heat Finnish Homes, Cutting Emissions

Microsoft simultaneously announced plans for the construction of data centres powered by renewable energy.

By Reuters | Updated: 18 March 2022 16:03 IST

Once completed, the data centres will account for 40 percent of the system's heat supplies

Highlights

The project would cut some 4,00,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually
Microsoft plans to buy the electricity via long-term PPA
Microsoft's new data centres will be powered by renewable energy

Finnish utility Fortum said on Thursday it will use waste heat from two new Microsoft data centres to warm homes and businesses in and around the capital Helsinki, while also cutting carbon emissions.

Microsoft simultaneously announced plans for the construction of the data centres, which will be powered by renewable energy, with their location chosen to allow for recycling of heat created from the cooling of computer servers.

District heating is widely used in Finland, pumping hot water through pre-insulated underground pipes, and has traditionally relied on fossil fuel sources.

Samsung Wins Patent for a Tri-Fold Smartphone With Specialised Barrier Layer for Improved Durability

Fortum operates a system of underground pipes stretching 900 kilometres and serving 2,50,000 users in the Helsinki metropolitan area. Once completed, the data centres will account for 40 percent of the system's heat supplies, the two firms said.

Fortum said its investment for the heat capture side from the data centres was estimated at 200 million euros (roughly Rs. 1682.395 crore), with expectations this would cut some 4,00,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

Microsoft declined to say how much it would invest in the centres. It estimated however that it would initially require some 400-500 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of renewable energy per year, which it said was comparable in scope to other local industries such as a paper or pulp mill.

US Probes Options Trade Gained on Microsoft-Activision Deal: Report

Microsoft plans to buy the electricity via one or several long-term power purchasing agreements (PPA), although no supplier has yet been selected, the company told Reuters.

This week on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast, we dive into Apple's Peek Performance event. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.