Waste heat from data centers: An investment analysis

Matti Pärssinen; Mikko Wahlroos; Jukka Manner; Sanna Syri

doi:10.1016/j.scs.2018.10.023

Waste heat from data centers: An investment analysis

Matti Pärssinen^*, Mikko Wahlroos, Jukka Manner, Sanna Syri

^*Corresponding author for this work

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Abstract

The growth of computing and Internet use have attracted the attention of the general public concerning the carbon footprint of data centers (DCs). Previous research has focused on the implementations of energy efficiency activities. However, little research has been published on the economic evaluation of waste heat utilization in the DC industry. This paper aims to provide an economic investment assessment of DC waste heat utilization. The contribution of this paper is the assessment of three different sized cases with realistic input factors affecting the net present value (NPV) model. We contribute to the ongoing discussion on the energy efficiency of DCs and provide a transparent assessment model for DC and district heating operators. We identified the positive NPV cases with high probability. The medium case has an NPV of 1.04 M€ (with uncertainty, the results range from −0.332 M€ to 2.57 M€). The large case has an NPV of 16.3 M€ (with uncertainty, the results range from 4.1 M€ to 30.2 M€). Both of these are clear-cut waste heat utilization investment proposals. The small case NPV is −48.5 k€ (with uncertainty, the results range from −264 k€ to 143 k€). The small case is sensitive to input factor values.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	428-444
Number of pages	17
Journal	Sustainable Cities and Society
Volume	44
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2018.10.023
Publication status	Published - 1 Jan 2019
MoE publication type	A1 Journal article-refereed

Keywords

Data center
District heating
Energy capture
Energy efficiency
Heat pump
Net present value
SYSTEM
MANAGEMENT
PERFORMANCE
ENERGY EFFICIENCY
RECOVERY
TECHNOLOGY
ECONOMIC-ANALYSIS

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title = "Waste heat from data centers: An investment analysis",

abstract = "The growth of computing and Internet use have attracted the attention of the general public concerning the carbon footprint of data centers (DCs). Previous research has focused on the implementations of energy efficiency activities. However, little research has been published on the economic evaluation of waste heat utilization in the DC industry. This paper aims to provide an economic investment assessment of DC waste heat utilization. The contribution of this paper is the assessment of three different sized cases with realistic input factors affecting the net present value (NPV) model. We contribute to the ongoing discussion on the energy efficiency of DCs and provide a transparent assessment model for DC and district heating operators. We identified the positive NPV cases with high probability. The medium case has an NPV of 1.04 M€ (with uncertainty, the results range from −0.332 M€ to 2.57 M€). The large case has an NPV of 16.3 M€ (with uncertainty, the results range from 4.1 M€ to 30.2 M€). Both of these are clear-cut waste heat utilization investment proposals. The small case NPV is −48.5 k€ (with uncertainty, the results range from −264 k€ to 143 k€). The small case is sensitive to input factor values.",

keywords = "Data center, District heating, Energy capture, Energy efficiency, Heat pump, Net present value, SYSTEM, MANAGEMENT, PERFORMANCE, ENERGY EFFICIENCY, RECOVERY, TECHNOLOGY, ECONOMIC-ANALYSIS",

author = "Matti P{\"a}rssinen and Mikko Wahlroos and Jukka Manner and Sanna Syri",

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