Data centre: "Using waste heat, a driver for transition and a virtuous circle" (Stéphane Raison, EDF)

"'When electricity is supplied to computer servers, heat is generated and some of the electricity is lost. We try to reuse the heat that is generated. What could be better, in urban areas, than to reuse this heat to heat buildings, industries and other industrial uses? It's a virtuous circle and a driver for the energy transition," says Stéphane Raison, Director of Installation for Large Consumer Sites at EDF, during a presentation of the heat recovery system at the Espace Clément Ader data centre in Toulouse (Haute-Garonne) on 16/07/2025.

The heat recovery system at the Occitanie Ouest regional data centre (Drocc), operated by Dalkia and tested in March 2025, will be operational from October 2025. In practical terms, the waste heat generated by the computers at the regional intensive computing platform will be captured and then re-injected into the Toulouse Énergie Durable district heating network. "The project will provide heating and domestic hot water for 27 buildings, the equivalent of 1,800 homes, which will be supplied by the 14 GWh generated by the loop," explains Marlène…