Two-thirds of Brits favor local data centers using waste heat

E.ON has published a report and survey showing UK and German public support for local data centers increases when their waste heat is used in local heat networks.

• Main announcement: E.ON’s survey (conducted by Appinio, polling 1,000 people aged 18–65 in both Germany and the UK) found 66.8% of people in the UK view nearby data centers more favourably if their waste heat is used for local heat networks, and 75.6% support cooperation between data centers, energy providers, and local authorities; E.ON has published an ‘Energy playbook for data centers’ report and positions itself to provide specialised energy management and infrastructure solutions for data centers.
• Background and project details: E.ON highlights the Silvertown development in East London’s Royal Docks as the UK’s first deployment of its ectogrid™ system on a 760,000 sqm site, which E.ON states will save approximately 4,000 tonnes of CO2 a year (claimed 88% lower emissions than traditional gas boilers); the report also flags rising computing demand (including from AI) and the increasing importance of “time-to-power” for European data center projects.