Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) and Danfoss have announced their collaboration to launch HPE IT Sustainability Services – Data Center Heat Recovery, a ready-to-use heat recovery module. This innovative service will help organizations manage and harness excess heat, facilitating the transition to more sustainable IT facilities.
With the accelerated integration of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies in various organizations and businesses, there is a dramatic increase in energy demand and the need for AI-optimized IT infrastructures. According to the International Energy Agency, the AI industry is expected to consume at least ten times more electricity by 2026 than in 2023. To address these challenges, IT leaders and data center operators are taking steps to reduce energy consumption by implementing modern energy efficiency capabilities and enhanced cooling systems.
The excess heat generated by data centers is a significant resource. In the European Union, it accounts for approximately 2,860 TWh/year, nearly equivalent to the total energy demand for heating and hot water in residential and service sector buildings. This continuous flow of excess heat from data centers is a highly reliable source of clean energy.
The new heat recovery module developed by HPE and Danfoss provides an effective solution to capture and reuse this heat, turning it into a valuable source of sustainable energy. With this innovation, organizations can not only improve their energy efficiency but also reduce their carbon footprint and contribute to global sustainability goals.
This collaboration between HPE and Danfoss highlights the importance of addressing the energy challenges accompanying the growth of AI technology and IT infrastructure. By offering advanced heat recovery solutions, both companies are leading the way towards a more sustainable future for the technology industry and data centers.
To address these issues, the new energy-efficient data center solution from HPE and Danfoss offers:
– HPE’s scalable Modular Data Center (MDC) in the form of small, high-density containers (kW/rack) that can be deployed almost anywhere in the absence of heavy industry and incorporate technologies such as direct liquid cooling, reducing energy consumption by 20%.
– Danfoss’ innovative solutions, including heat reuse modules that capture excess heat from data centers to provide renewable heating on-site and to neighboring buildings and industries for various applications, and oil-free Turbocor® compressors that improve data center cooling efficiency by up to 30%.
“Our strategic partnership with HPE is a great example of how we are revolutionizing the construction and decarbonization of the data center industry together with customers,” said Jürgen Fischer, President of Danfoss Climate Solutions. “With this latest cross-sector partnership, we are building the model for the next generation of sustainable data centers, using technologies available today.”
Benefits and Modularity Agility
HPE’s MDC incorporates direct liquid cooling (DLC) technologies to improve energy efficiency by over 20% and optimize energy production and distribution, resulting in significant energy savings. The compact design minimizes energy loss by reducing the distance for energy and refrigerant transport and maximizes the temperature differential at the inlet and outlet, promoting excess heat capture.
Furthermore, the agility of MDC and the exclusion of heavy industrial materials eliminate the need for conventional and expensive building materials and significantly reduce time to market. Implementation can be achieved three times faster than with traditional data centers, decreasing from 18 months to just 6 months. Finally, the reduced land footprint and flexibility of MDCs allow for placement near data generation sites, decreasing energy impact and bottlenecks associated with complex network solutions and data transfer while supporting better data governance and security.
“At HPE, we believe in the power of collaboration to create transformative solutions,” said Sue Preston, Vice President and General Manager of Global Advisory, Professional Services, and Managed Services at HPE. “Our partnership with Danfoss brings together HPE’s innovative Modular Data Center with Danfoss’ innovative heat reuse technology. Together, we are not just adding value, we are multiplying it. By leveraging the typically untapped resource of waste heat, turning waste into value, demonstrating that the future of energy usage is efficient, smart, and most importantly, achievable now.”
With unparalleled density, HPE’s modular data centers offer impressive energy efficiency (PUE) of 1.1 in contrast to the 1.3 to 1.4 PUE typically associated with top modern designs of traditional data centers. Capable of handling energy-demanding architectures such as HPE Cray Supercomputing EX4000, HPE’s modular data center is the right architecture for critical mission workloads and intensive computing, such as supercomputing and generative AI, enabling scientists, universities, and businesses to achieve faster results.
From Chip to Chiller: Driving Innovation in Decarbonization
To harness excess heat, one of the largest untapped energy sources and the greatest potential for data centers across Europe, HPE has partnered with Danfoss as their decarbonization partner. The strategic partnership leverages Danfoss’ extensive portfolio of energy-efficient solutions to drive innovation, support decarbonization, and build the model for the next generation of sustainable modular data centers.
HPE IT Sustainability Services: Data Center Heat Recovery is inspired by how Danfoss is already using heat reuse technology at its headquarters campus in Denmark. Here, heat is recovered from Danfoss’ data center, driven through a heat pump, and reused in surrounding buildings to provide heating to spaces. The heat can also be injected into the local urban heating network to provide a renewable heat source to local residents. Heat reuse is an important part of Danfoss’ own decarbonization strategy, which has helped Danfoss achieve carbon neutrality in the energy system at its 250,000 m2 Nordborg campus by 2022.