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Veolia’ s newly launched Data Center Resource 360 offering, unveiled in London in mid-April, could play an important part in the company’ s district heating plans going forward.
As the global data centre market grows at roughly 11 % a year, the heat these facilities generate as a byproduct has long been an overlooked resource.
With Data Center Resource 360, Veolia is proposing to capture that waste heat and channel it directly into local heating networks, supplying homes, businesses and industries with low-carbon energy that would otherwise be vented into the atmosphere.
The company says the approach could achieve a 20 % energy reuse efficiency rate, with an eye on anticipated European legislation that will make that kind of circularity increasingly important.
For the UK, where the firm is already active across more than 100 facilities, the proposition neatly dovetails with its broader push to expand district heating infrastructure and reduce communities’ dependence on fossil fuels.
District heating in the UK While the UK does currently operate some district heating networks, they account for just 2-3 % of the country’ s heating solutions, or 500,000 homes nationwide. Mostly, these networks are heavily concentrated in densely populated areas, like in London.
The British Government does, however, intend to invest significantly in its district heating capabilities going forward, with the express aim of heating 18-20 % of homes through circular networks by 2050.
160 June 2026