It should be the end of firing for the gray-haired ones.

Friday, January 17, 2025 • 7:37 PM UTC - in Denmark

Heating homes with excess heat from data centers

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It should be the end of firing for heat recovery boilers

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In addition to data centers, heating homes should be among the things that warm up Danish homes.

ARCHIVED PHOTO. In addition to data centers, heating homes should be among the things that warm up Danish homes. (Photo: © Linda Kastrup, Scanpix Denmark) 19 minutes ago

The news was warm to hear when the new agreement to remove the price cap on excess heat was presented on Friday morning.

This means that heat recovery boilers can more easily use excess heat from industry to warm Danish homes. And behind the agreement is the government, along with the Social Democrats, Liberal Alliance, Conservatives, Red-Green Alliance, Radical Left, and Alternative.

- We are now removing a concrete barrier and giving freer frameworks so that excess heat can develop. In return, heat recovery companies have a greater responsibility for ensuring that projects with industry about excess heat are economically viable and beneficial for consumers, says climate, energy, and supply minister Lars Aagaard (M) about the agreement.

The new agreement is welcomed with great joy by the industry organization Danish Heat Pumps. They estimate that up to a fourth of the Danish heat pump production can be supplied by excess heat and can heat up 500,000 homes - more than the approximately 65,000 homes that are currently heated with excess heat.

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Promising projects are ready

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According to the industry organization, there are several promising projects ready all over the country. But until now, the price cap has prevented cheap heat from reaching consumers.

In Grenaa, there are only a few hundred meters between the heat plant and The Danish Gear Factories. But now, an old agreement between the two should be found from the shadows, so that the gear factory's excess heat can benefit the residents of Grenaa.

Also in Vejen, heat plant director Richard Sloth Nielsen will be looking through the files for old projects.

Already in 2017, when plans for the conversion station to the 765 kilometer long power cable between Denmark and Great Britain - Viking Link - began to take shape, Vejen Heat Plant was considered in the plans as a taker of excess heat.

But the price cap put a stop to the project for 120 million kroner.

* Vejen Heat Plant produces heat today by burning straw and wood chips. (© Vejen Heat Plant)

1 / 2 Vejen Heat Plant produces heat today by burning straw and wood chips. (© Vejen Heat Plant) 1 / 2 Vejen Heat Plant produces heat today by burning straw and wood chips. (© Vejen Heat Plant) 2 / 2

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Out with the biomass

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Today, the heat plant primarily burns biomass.

Therefore, the heat plant director looks forward to being able to halve the amount of biomass that the heat plant burns.

- With the projects we have lying ready, we can heat half of our customers with excess heat. And in the long run, we can supply all of our 6,000 households exclusively with excess heat.

It is not only at heat plants that today's news is welcomed with open arms.

Also professor at DTU Compute, Henrik Madsen, is enthusiastic.

- There is so much excess heat from data centers and industry that has just been wasted, so it is a really good news that it can finally be used.

The price cap was introduced at one time to protect consumers from sudden price increases when heat plants invested in larger projects.

But the experiences - for the excess heat projects that have managed to be implemented - show the opposite. This explains Henrik Madsen.

- In practice, it has worked the opposite way, that we have not used excess heat to the extent that we should. When it is said, it does not hurt that all projects are looked at again in the seams one extra time before heat plants invest more hundreds of millions of kroner.

The agreement should, according to plan, come into force with a legislative change with effect from 1. July 2025.

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