Waste Heat From Google Data Centre Warming up Finnish Homes

Google has launched its first offsite heat recovery project in Finland in line with the multinational corporation and technology giant’s commitment to facilitating a carbon-free future.

Using excess heat from its data centre in Hamina, Finland, Google will transform the facility into both a hub for digital information and a source of sustainable heat for the district.

In partnership with Haminan Energia, Google will recover heat from the data centre — which currently operates with carbon-free energy at 97% — and be passed on to the Finnish heating network, completely free of charge.

Hamina data centre, Finland

The Hamina data centre’s sustainability credentials also mean the recovered heat will be 97% carbon free, and will represent 80% of the annual heat demand of the local district heating network, Haminan Energia says.

Mayor of Hamina Ilari Soosalu says: “Google and the city of Hamina have a long and flourishing history together. Google is an excellent example of a company with strong sustainable future orientation. It feels good to be the hometown of Google in Finland.”

Google Chief Sustainability Officer Kate Brandt — who came in second on Sustainability Magazine’s Top 100 Women 2024 — echoed his sentiments, adding: “This project is a great example of how we’re constantly striving to find new ways to increase the sustainability of our operations."

Google’s wider energy re-use plans at Hamina

As it stands, heat from Google’s Hamina data centre has been captured and recovered to heat the offices and buildings on site.

This will expand from 2025, when Google says: “The warmth coming from the data centre will be recovered to optimise the district heating network energy efficiency and carbon emissions footprint."

“This project helps bring us closer to achieving this goal while also supporting Finland’s long-standing commitment to environmental sustainability and technological innovation,” Google said on its website.

Google Head of Infrastructure & Sustainability Ben Townsend says: “Very proud to announce Google’s first heat recovery project and an additional €1bn (US$1.1bn) investment at our data centre campus in Hamina, Finland.

“Building community partnerships that advance a circular economy is a key success factor on our journey to net zero.”

Other innovative sustainability-centric projects from Google

In keeping with the digital landscape continuing on its ever-evolving journey and the increasing demand on digital services that comes with it, Google has taken steps to ensure the energy that supplies its infrastructure is as green as possible. As part of this commitment,  it announced an energy supply agreement that will bring more than 430MW of new-to-the-grid, carbon-free energy capacity in the state of Arizona.

As part of the agreement with SRP, a mix of dedicated wind power, solar energy and battery storage from three facilities operated by NextEra Energy Resources on SRP’s power grid will become available. 

And as a giant of the technology and sustainability space, Google is also empowering startups and climate techs pioneering technology bound to make a significant positive impact when it comes to climate change

To push US$1bn into climate techs, Google Cloud Ready-Sustainability programme hand-picked entities for HSBC’s financial backing.

Justin Keeble, Managing Director for Global Sustainability at Google Cloud, says: “The scale of climate challenge requires a global ecosystem of technology providers bringing solutions that drive impact. This is why we launched our Google Cloud Ready – Sustainability ecosystem which, one year in, includes leading climate tech companies.

“Many of these partners need access to finance and we are excited to partner with HSBC to support firms key to climate action.”

It’s not just on land that Google is propelling sustainability practices. Google is ramping up its green power supply with an offshore wind power purchase agreement (PPA) in the Netherlands, its largest ever, as it continues to work toward its green climate power targets.

“Our ambition to operate on carbon-free energy around the clock by 2030 requires clean energy solutions in every grid where we operate,” adds Matt Brittin, President of Google in EMEA.

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