Meta: surplus heat to district heating (Odense heat pump installation)

Overview

This record describes the heat pump plant that recovers surplus heat from Meta's hyperscale data centre in Odense and feeds Fjernvarme Fyn's district heating network. Ramboll acted as owner's engineer, designing the energy centre, running tenders, managing construction and writing the operating strategy. The page is a consultancy's project showcase and contains no detailed engineering data.

The plant recovers about 215,000 MWh per year from Meta's Tietgenbyen data centre and delivers about 45 MW of heat output to the Odense network. Heat leaves the data centre through a water circuit, above and below ground, to the adjacent ammonia heat pump plant, and Ramboll did the strength calculations for the chilled water pipe network. Large electrically driven ammonia heat pumps raise the temperature to 70-75 C. The plant heats more than 12,000 homes (2023).

The page also covers the policy change and proximity conditions that made the business case work. The Danish surplus-heat tax was abolished from January 2022 for certified businesses. Viability depends on being close to a district heating network, and EU guidance suggests a cost-benefit analysis above 1 MW.

The limit of the document is that it concerns a single project and does not disclose electricity consumption, heat pump coefficient of performance or economic results. The EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2023/1791 is named as the related regulation. It nonetheless offers a real reference case for key design parameters such as scale, temperature lift and network proximity.

Key points

1. About 215,000 MWh/yr is recovered from Meta's Tietgenbyen data centre, with about 45 MW of heat output to the Odense network.
2. Large electrically driven ammonia heat pumps raise the temperature to 70-75 C.
3. A water circuit (above and below ground) carries heat to the adjacent heat pump plant; Ramboll did strength calculations for the chilled water pipe network.
4. The plant heats more than 12,000 homes (2023).
5. The Danish surplus-heat tax was abolished from January 2022 for certified businesses.
6. Viability depends on proximity to a district heating network; EU guidance suggests cost-benefit analysis above 1 MW.

Using it in design

• Use as a reference case for the heat-export module: default the lift to 70-75 C via ammonia heat pumps.
• Add a distance-to-network input that drives a feasibility warning.
• Trigger a cost-benefit prompt for facilities above 1 MW in EU jurisdictions.
• Define local policy conditions such as a surplus-heat tax as economic analysis inputs.

Who should read it

Designers, developers and energy planners working on heat recovery and district heating integration.

Related standards

• EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EU) 2023/1791

Publication details

Authors

Ramboll

Publisher

Ramboll

Year

2019

Document language

English

Source type

Expert / community

Access

Free to read

Licence

Copyright retained; citation only — the publisher’s terms apply to the original document

Citation