Solution
One system for data centre heat: the Avans Heat Hub
A complete solution tailored to the data centre, built from modular blocks: the heat is routed to where it is needed.
The Avans Heat Hub
Built block by block
The backbone is built once for the whole campus; the modular blocks are added one at a time, as the tenants fill the data centre. No hub is built before the heat exists, and no capital waits for tenants who have not arrived. Heat control runs on the easy-to-use, automated Avans AI OS software.
Reference 100 MW campus · ten 10 MW modular blocks
- Block 110 MWHeat Hub
- Block 210 MWHeat Hub
- Block 310 MWHeat Hub
- Blocks 4–610 MWHeat Hub
- Blocks 7–1010 MWHeat Hub
Backbone, day one: land, permits, pipe corridor, grid, storage, control room, project company
Modular block = one 10 MW data centre block and its own Heat Hub. 10 MW is a reference size; the actual sizing is optimised to the site and the customer's need.
| Build-out | Blocks | Usable heat, average | Sold a year | Value a year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Block 1 | 1 × 10 MW | 4.5 MW | ≈ 34 GWh | ≈ €0.34 M |
| Phase 1 | 6 × 10 MW | 27 MW | ≈ 200 GWh | ≈ €2.0 M |
| Full campus | 10 × 10 MW | 45 MW | ≈ 335 GWh | ≈ €3.4 M |
Value at a cautious heat price of €10/MWh; the site's price is agreed in the pre-study.
Modular block 1
A 10 MW data centre block and its Heat Hub
Data centre
10 MW liquid-cooled block
Adds a tap point and a meter.
Tie-in at the fence
Before the dry coolers
The Heat Hub ties into the data centre's cooling and every MWh is metered; the exact tie-in is defined in the pre-study. The dry coolers stay as backup.
Heat Hub
Year-round uses next door
- Drying
- Greenhouses
- Biogas
- Biochar
- Buildings + snow melt
About half of the block's heat goes to year-round, high-value uses. The other half is kept for later uses and technologies.
Avans AI OS runs every use and meters every MWh, whoever supplies the equipment.
- 100%
- of dry-cooler capacity stays with the data centre as backup: uptime untouched
- ≈ 2 ha
- next door, within 100 m of the hall; confirmed in the pre-study
- 4.5 MW
- of heat from one 10 MW block: about half its heat
- New or existing
- a heat-ready shell, or any liquid-cooled hall nearby
Blocks 2–6
Each next block adds what earns best at that site: a heat-pump plant, fish, insects, industry, a spa or local food.
The best available technology for each use
Avans does not sell its own machines. Each block's Heat Hub is built from the best available technology on the market, from any supplier, chosen to maximise the profit of that block.
Share of the year's heat put to use
Who benefits
Data centre
No Hub capex, uptime untouched, label- and permit-ready reuse
Municipality
New companies, jobs and tax base
Community
A reason to say yes: local production and jobs
Climate
Less wasted heat; biochar stores carbon
Avans block-by-block concept and Block 1 basis of design (October 2026). Planning figures: the 10 MW block is a reference size, and the pre-study sizes the solution to the site and the customer's need. Block size and cooling temperatures are confirmed with the operator.
Delivery
One control system, a project company per site
One control system: Avans AI OS
Easy-to-use, automated software forecasts the heat, sends it hour by hour to its most valuable use and meters every MWh for EED reporting and the EU label.
A project company for every site
Avans makes an Avans Heat Hub project company ready to build through the feasibility studies, investors fund it, and the company builds and operates the Heat Hub under Avans's guidance. The data centre does not invest in the Heat Hub.
Who it is for
Find your path
Each group has its own page: what the Heat Hub means for you, the first step and its price, and a direct line to us.
- Municipality or development companyPermit decision basis, new business and jobsFirst stepMunicipal pre-study · €30,000 (€18,000 with aid)
- Data centre developer or operatorReuse-ready without Hub capex or uptime riskFirst stepPre-feasibility study · €50,000
- Energy company or heat userYear-round low-carbon heat, only what you needFirst stepJoint pre-study, or register your heat need
- Investor or bankA permit-ready heat plan and investable heat infrastructureFirst stepPre-feasibility study · €50,000
FAQ
Data centre waste heat reuse: common questions
What is data center waste heat reuse?
Every data centre turns almost all of its electricity into heat. Waste heat reuse means capturing that heat, typically as warm water from liquid cooling, and putting it to productive use such as heating, drying, greenhouses, aquaculture or industrial processes instead of releasing it through dry coolers.
How much heat does a data centre produce?
A data centre turns almost all of its electricity into heat: about 7.5 GWh a year per megawatt of IT load at typical utilisation. With direct liquid cooling, about 90% of it can be captured at around 50 °C, roughly 6.7 GWh per megawatt. A 60 MW data centre produces about 450 GWh of heat a year, evenly across all seasons.
Why is district heating alone not enough?
District heating demand peaks in winter, while a data centre produces heat all year. New AI data centres are also built far from towns, and a small municipality's network can typically absorb only a few per cent of the heat. In a 100 MW reference case, district heating takes 5–10% of the heat; a cascade of local uses, led by drying, greenhouses, biogas and biochar, puts about half of the year's heat to use, with one Heat Hub per 10 MW data centre block.
Does heat reuse put the data centre's uptime at risk?
No. The Heat Hub ties into the return pipe at the fence, before the dry coolers, and the data centre keeps 100% dry-cooler capacity as backup. If the Hub stops, the data centre cools as before, so Avans carries no cooling liability.
What can 50 °C data centre heat be used for?
Directly: drying of biomass side-streams, wood chips, bark and digestate, greenhouses, industrial process pre-heat, wastewater pre-heating for nitrogen removal, biogas digesters, pyrolysis feedstock drying, fish farming (RAS), snow melting, spas and low-temperature building heat. Insect farming works too, on permitted feed. With heat pumps: district heating and higher-temperature process heat.
Is data centre heat worth money?
Little at the fence: in Finland, utilities have paid about €0–25/MWh for data centre heat, and many hyperscalers give it away. It becomes valuable once it is converted: drying fuel, freeing biogas for sale, growing food or replacing a heating plant. That is why the Heat Hub builds the conversion uses and long-term contracts around the heat, rather than reselling raw heat.
Who pays for the heat reuse infrastructure?
The Avans Heat Hub project company set up for the site. Investors fund the Heat Hub, so the data centre needs no Hub capex on its own books; at most it co-funds its own tap point. Raw heat at the fence has little market value, so the deal is reuse done for you, not a heat payment.
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