Exoscale, the cloud service division of A1 Digital, has partnered with Austrian company Diggers to implement an advanced liquid cooling system in their Vienna data center, aiming to enhance energy efficiency for artificial intelligence workloads. This collaboration focuses on reducing energy consumption and repurposing waste heat generated by high-performance computing processes.
The increasing demand for AI applications has significantly escalated energy usage in data centers, with cooling systems accounting for approximately 20 to 25 percent of this consumption. In response, Exoscale and Diggers have introduced a solution that integrates specialized cooling lines directly into server units. These lines efficiently capture heat from AI GPUs and standard processors, utilizing thermodynamic effects for liquid transport, which markedly reduces energy requirements. The captured heat, reaching temperatures around 50°C , can be repurposed for hot water production or supplied to district heating networks, achieving a heat utilization rate of up to 98 percent.
Mathias Nöbauer, CEO of Exoscale, highlighted the significance of this initiative: “We believe it makes sense to utilize the heat generated in our data centers, provided that effort and results are in a reasonable proportion, and we can achieve significant improvements in terms of sustainability.” This approach not only enhances energy efficiency but also contributes to a reduced carbon footprint by transforming waste heat into a valuable resource.
The deployment at Exoscale’s Vienna facility currently comprises eight cold boxes, collectively offering an 80kW compute capacity. Each cold box contains four server blades mounted vertically, with aluminum cold plates cooling two GPUs per plate to prevent corrosion and ensure durability. This design facilitates easy maintenance and component replacement, addressing common challenges associated with traditional cooling methods.
This initiative aligns with broader European efforts to promote sustainable energy practices. The European Union has been advocating for the utilization of waste heat from data centers to achieve carbon neutrality in the heating and cooling sector by 2035. Germany, in particular, has been proactive in setting targets to mandate energy reuse, recognizing the potential of such measures to significantly reduce overall energy consumption.
However, the implementation of waste heat reuse systems is not without challenges. The temperature of waste heat from data centers often requires amplification through heat pumps to be viable for heating networks, which can entail additional energy consumption. Despite these hurdles, the collaboration between Exoscale and Diggers exemplifies a practical application of waste heat utilization, offering a model for future data center operations.