From heat pumps to pumped heat: Octopus backs tech that reuses data centre heat

British renewable energy company Octopus Energy is investing in a potentially groundbreaking technology that can re-use heat generated by data centres to heat public swimming pools, distilleries, or district heating networks.

Octopus Energy announced on Monday that it would invest £200 million into London-based Deep Green to help it rapidly scale its technology across the United Kingdom.

Billing itself as “the only Data Centre company that recaptures the heat your compute generates and repurposes it for social good, for free”, Deep Green is capable of providing free hot water to swimming pools, district heating systems, and other industries.

The technology requires only that customers provide space for containers and sufficient grid and internet connection. In exchange, Deep Green supplies the data furnace for free and pays for the energy they use, as well as all maintenance and servicing, meaning a customer’s ongoing costs are zero.

Demonstrating the real-world cost savings of Deep Green’s technology, a public swimming pool in Exmouth, Devon, trialled the technology in 2023 and was able to cut its pool heating bill by over 60%.

Deep Green data centres installed onsite at, for example, a swimming pool or distillery, don’t require additional upgrades or planning permission, and can therefore be up and running within weeks.

The arrangement means that Deep Green is able to provide free hot water to customers, reducing monthly costs by as much as 70%. In return, Deep Green receives free cooling to dramatically reduce its own running costs – meaning that Deep Green’s data centres use 60% less energy than conventional data centres, making them much more cost efficient than competitors.

Deep Green’s innovative technology removes the need for downstream gas boilers and are Scope 3 negative. So popular is the company’s offering that it already boasts 4GW of faster, cheaper, and greener capacity across 1,500 UK server sites – often located at the far-edge of the market.

“To tackle the energy crisis head-on, we need innovative solutions to unusual problems,” said Zoisa North-Bond, CEO of Octopus Energy Generation.

“By using excess heat from data centres to slash energy bills for communities across the UK, Deep Green solves two problems with one solution. We’re looking forward to rapidly rolling this out and positively impacting even more people as we drive towards a cleaner, cheaper energy future.”

Octopus Energy’s £200 million was made via the company’s dedicated Octopus Energy Transition Fund (OETF) and the Sky (ORI SCSp) fund it manages.

“We are thrilled with Octopus’s commitment to support our next phase of growth,” added Mark Bjornsgaard, founder and CEO of Deep Green.

“Placing data centres within the fabric of society transforms the waste heat they produce into a valuable resource that benefits communities.

“The data centre sector is rightly facing scrutiny about its growing energy demand and associated carbon emissions. Our data centres are highly energy efficient and support local communities with free heat.”