Infomaniak inaugurates a revolutionary data center which recovers 100% of its energy from heat buildings

On January 28 in Geneva, infania Inuugurative offering a new data center in the presence of public authorities and the main stakeholders in the project. Its particularity? It recovers 100% of the electricity used to heat 6,000 houses per year, has no impact on the landscape and is built in the basement of a participatory and eco-responsible cooperative. A major innovation that should inspire the cloud industry and political decision -makers to increase construction standards.

In the real world, data centers convert electricity into heat. When you store your files in KDRIVE or send files with SwiSSSSTRANSFER, you heat the houses ♻️

A data center that does not waste anything

Since 2013, Infomaniak has cools its data centers with filtered outdoor air, without using air conditioning. Regularly rewarded for their exemplary energy efficiency, our other data centers are nevertheless waste their heat by releasing it in the atmosphere. This new generation of data centers goes further and takes several major challenges in the cloud industry:

100% of the electricity used by this new data center is reused to heat households via a district heating network. The installation does not require additional water or air conditioning to be cooled. It is built on an underground site in a residential area. It has no impact on the landscape.

6,000 heated houses and 3,600 tco₂eq avoided each year

This infaniak data center twice uses the total electricity it consumes: once to store the data and do calculations, and once again to heat the houses thanks to its connection to a district heating network ⚡️

Since 2 p.m. on November 11, 2024, all the electricity consumed by this new data center has been reinjected into heat in the district heating network of the Canton of Geneva in Switzerland. This project marks a key step in the energy transition of a fast growing sector by transforming a factory with high energy intensity into an active actor in energy recovery.

Currently operating at 25% of its potential Infaniak data center capacity will gradually increase its production to achieve full capacity by 2028, which have a lasting contribution to the company for at least 20 years. At full capacity, the new data center will house some 10,000 servers in an underground area to measure 1,800 m2. It will provide to the 1.7 MW heating network, equivalent to the energy necessary to heat 6,000 Minergie-A households per year or to allow 20,000 people to take a 5-minute shower each day.

Geneva will avoid having to burn 3,600 TCO2E of natural gas per year or the equivalent of 5,500 tco2e of pastilles per year while eliminating the need of 211 trucks per year carrying 13 tonnes of materials and the microparticles associated with transport and The combustion of pellets.

How does it work?

Unlike other projects that recover only a fraction of their heat, Infaniak reuses 100% of the energy consumed.

Any electricity used (servers, inverters, fans, etc.) converted into heat at 40 to 45 ° C. This heat is transferred to an air / water exchanger to heat a hot water circuit. Heat pumps Increase water temperature to transfer inevitable heat from the data center to the heating network. As it expands, the pump gas decreases the water temperature from 45 ° C to 28 ° C. This cooled water regulates the temperature of servers elevals the need for traditional air conditioning.

Good for the technological sovereignty of Europe

The essential components of the data center are manufactured in Europe (trane heat pumps, Abb inverters, Ebmpapst fans, etc.). Here, the Siemens switching tables, made in Germany.

This data center strengthens the technological sovereignty of Europe and creates value for many local companies based on equipment manufactured exclusively in Europe, with the exception of security cameras. The local economy will also directly benefit from the impact of this project.

An open source model for a global impact

This model works, demonstrating to the cloud industry and political decision -makers that it is possible to use the energy of data centers twice. It also shows that digital technology should no longer be considered as a final consumer of electricity, as an engine of the energy transition.

The data center has been documented by UNIL, IMD and EPFL as part of the E4S.The program to demonstrate its energy efficiency in real time and facilitate reproduction. This work is available free of charge d4project.org and incorporates:

Real -time performance monitoring to demonstrate system efficiency A technical guide to help others reproduce this approach a file for political decision -makers in order to adapt industry standards

And what now?

Infomaniak is looking for new heating networks for its future data centers.

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[1] Energy use effectiveness: PUE compares the total energy consumed by the data center with that really used by servers.

[2] Efficiency of the reuse of energy: era measures the energy efficiency of a data center taking into account the dissipated thermal energy which is reused.

[3] Energy reuse factor: ERF measures the proportion of total energy consumed by a data center which is actually reused outside the center (for example in heat buildings).