Avans Heat Hub · Avans AI OS
From waste heat to social license to operate
A data centre must now show what happens to its heat before it gets its permit, grid connection and EU label. Avans designs a Heat Hub next door that puts about half of that heat to use, all year. Choose your role to find your answers and your first step.
- of the year's heat put to use at a 100 MW campus; 5–10% with district heating alone
- ≈ 50%of the year's heat put to use at a 100 MW campus; 5–10% with district heating alone
- per 10 MW data centre block, built block by block
- 1 Heat Hubper 10 MW data centre block, built block by block
- Heat Hub capex for the data centre: the site's project company funds it
- €0Heat Hub capex for the data centre: the site's project company funds it
The solution in brief
The Avans Heat Hub, built block by block
A data centre makes heat every hour of the year, yet district heating takes only 5–10% of it, mostly in winter. Avans brings year-round heat users next door: one Heat Hub per 10 MW data centre block, added as the data centre grows.
Planning figures: one Heat Hub takes 4.5 MW from a 10 MW block and sells ≈ 34 GWh a year; ten blocks at a 100 MW campus put ≈ 335 of 670 GWh to use. Every site is sized in the pre-study.
- 1
Tie-in at the fence
The Heat Hub ties into the data centre's cooling at the fence, before the dry coolers, and every MWh is metered. The dry coolers stay as backup.
- 2
Year-round uses next door
Drying, greenhouses, biogas, biochar and buildings take about half of the block's heat, each with the best available technology. The rest is kept for later uses.
- 3
Avans AI OS runs it, a project company builds it
Avans AI OS sends the heat hour by hour to its most valuable use and meters it for reporting. The site's project company funds, builds and operates the Heat Hub under Avans's guidance.
How we work
Three steps from a call to a working Heat Hub
Every step ends with a go or no-go, and you only commit to the next one.
- 1
30-minute call
No preparation needed
We go through the site, the heat, possible users and the timeline, and tell you which first step fits.
- 2
Pre-feasibility study
Fixed price
How much heat can be used, who takes it all year and what the site can earn. The result supports the permit, the EU label and the investment decision.
- 3
A project company builds and operates
Funded by investors
An Avans Heat Hub project company is set up for the site. Avans makes it ready to build, investors fund it, and the company builds and operates the Heat Hub under Avans's guidance.
Study fees are credited against the system delivery when the project goes ahead.
Municipal pre-study €30,000 (€18,000 with energy aid) · Data centre pre-feasibility study €50,000 · All excl. VAT; the project company's blueprint and build are priced per site.
Founders
Built by people who have sold, designed and run industrial systems
Twenty years of selling process equipment and building export businesses in Asia, a physicist who designs the heat systems, and a biotechnologist who led ProAgria for seven years. We integrate the best available technology from any supplier.
Designed around
- EU data-centre rating (2026)
- EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED)
- German Energy Efficiency Act (EnEfG)
- Finnish Energy Efficiency Act
- Clean transition siting permit (43 a §)
- Business Finland energy aid
Jani Vänskä
Co-founder & CEO
Twenty years of industrial business in Asia; Valmet and Andritz
Dr. Joonas Mustonen
Co-founder · Energy systems
PhD in physics, University of Helsinki
Dr. Harri Mäkivuokko
Co-founder · Bio-production & partners
PhD in biotechnology; ProAgria CEO for 7+ years
Strategic advisor
Chris Betts
Former General Counsel of Grab, where he led the US$40 bn Nasdaq listing. Previously a capital markets partner at Skadden in Hong Kong, with 40+ IPOs.
Next step
Book a 30-minute call
Tell us briefly about your site or project. We reply personally as soon as possible and book a short call about your heat, possible users and timeline.
What happens next
- 1A 30-minute call: heat, possible users, timeline
- 2Together we check fit, schedule and funding options
- 3You get a fixed-price pre-study proposal, credited against the system delivery