Leeds data centre plans to recycle heat in district heating scheme

The owner of two data centres in Leeds is planning to recycle its waste heat to power a district heating scheme. Telecoms business aql will build a prototype district heating […]

The owner of two data centres in Leeds is planning to recycle its waste heat to power a district heating scheme.

Telecoms business aql will build a prototype district heating scheme at its two data centres on the south bank of Leeds with air conditioning and IT cooling firm Airedale International.

They want to find out if the scheme could provide several hundred kilowatts of heating for other buildings such as its 300 seat conference auditorium and a local art gallery called The Tetley.

Dr Adam Beaumont, chief executive of aql who was formerly a lecturer at Leeds University in thermodynamics – the study of the flow of heat – said: “Once we started building our own data centres, it became clear that managing heat flow in an efficient manner has a huge effect on our profitability and environmental impact.”

The telecoms firm says its two centres form the ‘home’ of the Leeds Internet Exchange (known as IXLeeds) which provides a hub for the Yorkshire region.

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