Turning Waste Heat into District Heating: Our Circular Economy Model

From Waste to Value: How GPU Heat Powers District Heating

Data centres are massive heat generators. Traditional facilities dump this heat into the atmosphere, wasting energy and contributing to urban heat islands. AIGB captures this heat and channels it into district heating systems, transforming a cost centre into a revenue stream.

The Heat Opportunity

A single 1 MW GPU cluster generates approximately 950 kW of waste heat continuously. Over a year, that's:

• 8,322 MWh of waste heat annually
• Equivalent to heating 500 homes for a year
• Revenue potential: €180,000-€250,000 annually

For a 100 MW facility, that's €18-25M in annual heat reuse revenue.

How It Works

Our immersion cooling system captures heat through a closed-loop heat exchange system:

1. Heat capture: Dielectric fluid circulates through GPU tanks, absorbing heat
2. Heat transport: Fluid flows to a heat exchanger where thermal energy is transferred to district heating water
3. Distribution: Hot water flows into municipal district heating networks
4. Revenue: Cities pay AIGB for the thermal energy delivered

Real-World Implementation: Paris

Our Paris facility (opening April 2026) will deliver 450 kW of continuous heat to the Paris district heating network:

• Annual heat delivery: 3,942 MWh
• Homes heated: 200+ households
• Annual revenue: €180,000-€220,000
• CO2 avoided: 1,180 tonnes annually (vs. natural gas heating)

The Economics

For a 100 MW facility:

Environmental Impact

Heat reuse eliminates the need for fossil fuel heating:

• Natural gas avoided: 1,000+ tonnes CO2/year per MW
• For a 100 MW facility: 100,000+ tonnes CO2/year avoided
• Equivalent to: Removing 22,000 cars from the road

The Circular Economy Model

AIGB's heat reuse model creates a circular economy:

1. Cities need heating — district heating networks require continuous thermal energy
2. GPUs generate heat — data centres produce massive amounts of waste heat
3. We capture and deliver — AIGB captures GPU heat and sells it to district heating networks
4. Everyone benefits — cities reduce heating costs, AIGB generates revenue, environment wins

This is not a future concept—it's operational today. Our Barcelona test facility has been delivering heat to the local district heating network since Q3 2025.

Scaling Across Europe

Every major European city has a district heating network. Our deployment strategy targets these networks:

• Paris: 450 kW (April 2026)
• Brussels: 2,000 kW (2027)
• Hamburg: 3,000 kW (2027)
• Vienna: 8,000 kW (2028)
• Lisbon: 12,000 kW (2028)

By 2029, AIGB will deliver 50+ MW of thermal energy to European district heating networks, generating €20M+ in annual revenue while heating 50,000+ homes.

The Bottom Line

Waste heat is not waste—it's an asset. By capturing and reusing GPU heat, we've transformed data centre operations from an environmental liability into an environmental solution.

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Arnar Dagsson
Head of Sustainability, AI Green Bytes
January 2026