The Stockholm authorities are going to make the capital of Sweden the best location for large data centers using heat recovery systems. The surplus energy will be used to heat buildings through the central heating system. To realize this vision, the Stockholm Data Parks project was launched.
Typically, companies incur high electricity bills to keep their servers cool: data centers consume about the same amount of electricity as air carriers, and still leave a significant carbon footprint. According to experts' forecasts, consumption volumes will triple in the next ten years.
The Stockholm authorities' initiative will help turn an expensive burden into a valuable resource. For example, a 10 megawatt data center can produce enough heat to heat 20,000 apartments. Heating company Fortum Värme, power grid organization Ellevio and dark fiber supplier Stokab were involved in the project. The municipality intends to create an infrastructure where "the heat of data centers will not be wasted at all", and has already allocated plots within the city for the construction of new complexes.
The new strategy will be another step on the path of Stockholm towards the status of independent - from fossil fuels. The achievement of this goal is scheduled for 2040.
