Early start to National Climate Week with signing between the municipality of Diemen and Switch Datacenters during the Green Datacenter Conference
Amsterdam, November 6, 2024 – National Climate Week in the Netherlands kicks off early for Switch Datacenters with the Green Data Center Conference.
During this Green Data Center Conference on sustainability within the data center sector, Switch Datacenters and the municipality of Diemen formalized the decision made by the Diemen mayor and aldermen on September 3, 2024, regarding an agreement on data-thermal solutions based on the green heat from the data center with a signature.
Alderman for Sustainability Matthijs van den Berg on behalf of the municipality of Diemen and Edgar van Essen on behalf of Switch Datacenters signed for the start of the feasibility study into providing affordable green heat for potentially 50,000 households and businesses in Diemen-Zuid.
The data center is powered by 100% green electricity and is specially designed to capture and deliver heat to a heating network. The building housing the data center was created by redeveloping the structure of the former logistics building. By reusing as many materials from the old building as possible and incorporating a modern high-tech design, Switch Datacenters has improved the visual appearance of the industrial neighborhood while minimizing the CO2 footprint of the construction. The servers of Switch’s customers in the data center produce large amounts of heat and must be constantly cooled. Notably, no drinking water is used in this cooling process.
Data-thermal solutions use an innovative technique to heat homes and businesses through a heating network (an underground pipe network). These can be heated with hot water from the data center during cold periods. The goal of the agreement is to further explore within a year whether a heating network based on the residual heat from the data center is feasible. The central question is what the cost picture for residents would look like. In addition to investigating the technical and financial feasibility, it is important that residents, businesses, and organizations also participate. Switch Datacenters and the municipality are keen to involve residents, businesses, and organizations from Diemen in the heat transition.
Later in the day during the Green Datacenter Conference, Cara Mascini, our Chief Sustainability Officer, and Pieter Duijves, our Chief Operations Officer, together with Loek Wilden, Data Center Lifecycle Consultant, and Alexandre Golisano, the Country President Netherlands of Schneider Electric, will discuss the case study of the Diemen Datacenter in the parallel program. All sustainable components of the data center will be reviewed, including the reuse of the original building and materials, the sustainable way the generators are tested without diesel, the waterless cooling system, and several other aspects that make the data center one of the most sustainable in Europe. The fact that this data center was built during a period when the strictest environmental requirements in the industry were put in place, and the market assumed that the Amsterdam region was closed, is proof of this. Provided it is sustainably designed and developed such as in the manner of Switch Datacenters, it is indeed possible to build data centers in the region.
Switch Datacenters is a Dutch company, with Dutch entrepreneurs, building in our own environment and taking our responsibility to do this sustainably very seriously. We involve our environment at an early stage and look at the local situation, which is leading in the development. How can we, together with local players, the community, entrepreneurs, and infrastructure parties, create an optimal sustainable energy and ecological solution that has mininmal impact on its environment and also gives back? This way we, amongst others, contribute to the energy transition.
Later in Climate Week, there will be tours of the data center in Diemen where residents of Diemen can take a look. Switch Datacenters will also be represented at the Sun, Sea & Wind event by Daarom Duurzaam Diemen. An inspiring day full of activities for young and old in De Omval on November 16.
