The project that became our model
Scandinavian Data Centers were planning a new data centre and came to us for advice on district heating. Their sustainability ambitions ruled out venting the heat from their facility, so we helped them build a contracted route for it into the city of Eskilstuna's heat network. The method we worked out along the way is the one Calentix has followed ever since.
- Client
- Scandinavian Data Centers (SDC)
- Location
- Eskilstuna, Sweden
- Facility
- Rock cavern data centre
- Calentix role
- Technical and commercial development
- Stage reached
- Heat Access Agreement
heat recoverable at full build-out
length of the heat agreement
first phase of the facility on site
How it started
SDC contacted us with a plan for a highly efficient data centre in a former rock cavern and a vision that included reusing the waste heat. They needed someone who knew district heating from the inside: how a network buys heat, what it is willing to pay, which temperatures and availability it requires, and what a utility needs to see before it commits.
What we developed
We produced the early technical and commercial design: how the heat would be taken off the facility, what it would be worth to the network, how the parties would share responsibility, and whether the case was strong enough to justify going further. It was.
We stayed on as SMEs during the rest of the process, when the agreement was developed.
With the agreement the recovered heat went from a stated intention to a contracted resource, which is the point where a project can carry an investment decision. It remains the milestone we develop towards in every project.
The heat is contracted directly between SDC and the heat utility on a long term agreement, with up to 10 MW assessed as recoverable as the facility builds out. The data centre is under construction, and heat deliveries start once it is in operation and the server load has reached the level the network needs.
Why it matters to us
Eskilstuna was our first project and the reason Calentix exists. The work showed that a third party is very beneficial to involve when taking a waste heat project from idea to signed agreement.
It also gave us the staged model we apply to every site we assess. Each of the eight stages in our development model was first tested here.
Planning a site of your own?
We assess new sites against the same criteria and can give an early view on whether heat recovery looks realistic.
Start a pre-feasibility check