Sweden just completed Europe's largest data center waste heat recovery program — connecting Stockholm's district heating network to 24 data centers whose cooling waste heat now warms 200,000 Swedish homes, turning discarded computing heat into a free renewable heating resource for an entire city.
Stockholm Data Parks operates 24 data centers with heat recovery systems capturing 97 percent of server cooling heat rather than expelling it outdoors. Recovered heat at 35 to 55 degrees Celsius transfers to Stockholm's district heating pipes through heat pumps boosting temperature to 80 degrees for residential distribution. Data center operators receive reduced electricity costs through the heat exchange agreement while Stockholm Exergi eliminates biomass fuel equivalent to 800,000 tonnes of CO2 annually from its heating portfolio.
Global data centers collectively waste heat equivalent to heating every home in Europe. Stockholm's model demonstrates that urban data center clusters can supply significant city heating fractions from energy currently disappearing into the atmosphere, requiring only heat pump infrastructure and contractual integration with existing district heating systems.
Source: Stockholm Exergi, Stockholm Data Parks, Swedish Energy Agency, 2025
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