Helen and Telia’s Collaboration Brings Even More Data Center Heat to Helsinki Residents
Helen and Telia are expanding their collaboration on utilizing waste heat generated by data center operations. As the data center located in Pitäjänmäki grows, the amount of waste heat fed into the district heating network increases, bringing warmth to even more homes and buildings in Helsinki. With the expansion, the data center’s heat could eventually cover the heating needs of up to 14,000 two-room apartments, with plans to increase that number to 28,000 in the future.
The growing use of data requires increasingly efficient data centers, which in turn generate a significant amount of heat. Since early 2023, Helen and Telia have been channeling waste heat from Telia’s Pitäjänmäki data center into the district heating network to warm Helsinki homes and properties.
The utilization of waste heat from the data center is being implemented in phases. As the data center expands, the amount of waste heat it produces increases, which means more heat is delivered to the district heating network. The additional heat from the expansion raises the total output to a level equivalent to the consumption of 14,000 two-room apartments.
“Utilizing waste heat from data centers is an excellent example of an emission-free and stable heat production solution that supports our goal of non-combustion-based energy production. We are very pleased with our collaboration with Telia in this area,” says Miika Lindholm, Group Manager responsible for data center waste heat solutions at Helen.
The central location of the data center makes it ideal for delivering waste heat into the district heating network to meet the needs of a growing Helsinki.
“Our collaboration with Helen strongly supports both our own climate efforts and the shared goal of Helen and the City of Helsinki for non-combustion-based energy production,” says Martina Lilius, Head of Sustainability at Telia.