Denmark’s Bitten supercomputer sends waste heat toward homes
New field reporting from Denmark examines how the Bitten supercomputer can supply heat to Sønderborg’s district-heating network. Liquid cooling captures heat from its processors for reuse in homes or industrial processes. Energy specialist Jan Rosenow argues that locating data centres near heat users matters, pointing to existing reuse projects in Odense and Stockholm.
Artificial Intelligence··Evening
Computing heat can supply a municipal network
Denmark’s Bitten supercomputer can direct heat from its processors into Sønderborg’s municipal district-heating network. The system at the University of Southern Denmark supplies AI computing and complex scientific simulations for academic research. It launched in May; new field reporting examines its heat-reuse arrangement. Sønderborg has 75,000 residents, and the network provides a destination for heat that conventional cooling would otherwise vent outside.[1]
Liquid cooling produces reusable hot water
Danish engineering company Danfoss developed the liquid-cooling technology used to collect heat directly from hot processing chips. Instead of relying on fans and conventional air conditioning, the system pumps coolant over the processors. Kristian Strand, president of the company’s Climate Solutions division, described hot water emerging at the end of the process. He said it can serve homes as well as industrial processes.[1]
Nearby heat users shape the location choice
At Britain’s University of Oxford, Jan Rosenow holds a professorship in energy and climate policy. He argued for placing data centres near potential users of their heat. At Meta’s Odense facility in Denmark, he put recovered heat at about 100 GWh per year, corresponding to the needs of 6,900 homes. He said Stockholm has used data-centre heat in its network since 2014.[1]
