District heating triumph

Obtuse Angle

District heating to play bigger role in Ireland’s carbon-neutral future

Ireland has taken a significant step closer to a zero-carbon future with the commencement of excavation works on the country’s first ever large-scale district heating system which is set to harness excess heat from the Amazon web services data centre in Tallaght, writes Kevin Devine, Sales Director, Xylem Water Solutions, Ireland. Currently, district heating and cooling represent a maximum 0.8% of Ireland’s heat consumption1 – a long way from its target of 10% of all buildings to be connected to district heating sources by 20302 .

With a growing number of data centres placing a huge demand on the national grid, a more sustainable solution had to be found. Data centres currently represent 11% of Ireland’s electricity grid capacity and that figure is projected to rise to almost 30% by the end of the decade3 . Furthermore, if all other data centres proposed for Ireland are given the green light, their energy use would comprise 70% of capacity in 2030.

Harnessing available heat

District heating systems, like the one currently under construction in Tallaght, offer the opportunity to reuse the energy being consumed so voraciously by data centres (the 26-hectare Amazon site being developed in Mulhuddart, Co Dublin, will consume an estimated 4.4% of Ireland’s total energy demand by 20264). The district heating scheme, which will begin supplying heat in 2022, will reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the South County Dublin area by nearly 1,500 tonnes per year in its first phase alone5. Initially, it will provide heat for a number of South Dublin County Council’s buildings and the TU Dublin-Tallaght campus, with plans to connect other public, private and residential customers in the Tallaght area to the network in subsequent stages. In Dublin, it is estimated there is enough waste heat to heat one million homes6 – meaning harnessing the extra heat generated by data banks, and any other industrial source, provides a sustainable way forward for all countries in the future.

Amazon’s new system will initially heat 47,000sq m of public sector buildings, 3,000sq m of commercial space, and 133 affordable rental apartments. Using the thermal energy it produces represents a significant contribution to its pledge to be net zero carbon by 2040, with new projects making it the largest ever corporate purchaser of renewable energy7 .

This low-cost, low-carbon approach can extend far beyond district heating. Investing in quality energy-efficient solutions with sustainability at their core for existing buildings can offer the potential to rapidly recoup costs.

A professional audit of every building system can uncover dated technology, poor design or shoddy installation, anything that may hinder the performance of the system. Experienced engineers can identify inefficiencies – for example, oversized heating systems which can use 50% more energy than necessary.

The opportunities to improve the efficiency and sustainability of our buildings’ assets are vast. Buildings no longer need to account for almost a third of the world’s carbon emissions8 , or a fifth of its water usage9. Upgrading systems to run at peak efficiency can mean huge energy and cost savings, and make them more resilient.

For more information on smart district heating and cooling technology visit www.xylem.com/en-ie

References

1. https://ec.europa.eu/energy/sites/default/fi les/ documents/ie_fi nal_necp_main_en.pdf 2. https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2021/0913/1246571amazon-data-centre-heat-tallaght/ 3. https://www.irishtimes.com/news/politics/data-centrescould-use-70-of-ireland-s-electricity-by-2030-committeeto-hear-1.4685589 4. https://www.irishtimes.com/opinion/high-energydata-centres-not-quite-as-clean-and-green-as-theyseem-1.4013992 5. https://www.sdcc.ie/en/news/tallaght-district-heatingexcavation-works-to-begin.html 6. https://www.rte.ie/news/dublin/2021/0913/1246571amazon-data-centre-heat-tallaght/ 7. https://blog.aboutamazon.eu/aws/local-communitybuildings-in-ireland-to-be-heated-by-amazon-data-centre 8. https://www.worldgbc.org/news-media/WorldGBCembodied-carbon-report-published 9. https://ec.europa.eu/environment/consultations/pdf/ background_water_effi ciency.pdf