Heat Reuse Platform

HRP’s first quarterly update – news on the Proof of Concept, website, and next steps.

Project
The Heat Reuse Platform (HRP) is designed to accelerate the adoption of heat reuse by simplifying partner discovery, shortening negotiation timelines, and enabling rapid project initiation. At its core, HRP will provide an EU-wide matchmaking portal that links data centres with nearby district heating and cooling (DHC) networks using criteria such as proximity, and heat quality and availability etc. To streamline agreements, the platform will offer a standardized contract template, tools and guides to support technical and economic feasibility estimates. Additionally, the platform will contain capacity building resources – including training modules, calculators, and recorded heat reuse webinars – will equip stakeholders with the tools needed to reduce risk and advance early-stage development. The initiative is jointly led by the European Data Centre Association (EUDCA), Euroheat & Power (EHP), NetZero DCs, and the Open Compute Project (OCP) and The Data Centre Heat Company delivering IT development.

Key Activities Q4 2025
1. Demonstrating and Approving the Proof of Concept (PoC)
The Steering Committee and Working Group approved the list of data points for the first level of non sensitive data available on the platform. The DC Heat Company presented the first version of the platform including core functions like mapping by example of French cities and the concept for the matchmaking workflow. The adjacent screenshot illustrates the PoC mapping layer (blue dots = data centres, red lines = heat networks)

While clicking on the blue dots reveals data points per data centre facility, the PoC currently contains random data. An update is scheduled for when actual information by facility is received from data centre operators. These data points consist of non-sensitive topics including: (1) operator name, (2) (generic) contact details – for heat reuse project matching discussions, (3) city, country, (4) facility name, (5) average annual temperature of heat source, (6) heat export readiness (yes/no).

A request will be made to data centre operators early in 2026 to deliver such data points and they will also receive a simple template, template guidelines, and a data briefing.

2. Initiating the Resource Hosting Site

The development of the HRP Resource Hub commenced in Q4 with a clear focus on ease of navigation, intuitive structure, and a positive user experience across all stakeholder groups. The initial site architecture has now been drafted and will then be validated by the alliance partners, ensuring alignment with the overall HRP workflow – from early discovery to feasibility assessment.
The Resource Hub is being built around a modular content framework, allowing categories to be populated progressively as tools, templates, and guidance materials are completed and approved. Core sections include introductory explainers, ROM calculators, readiness templates, contract guidance, case studies, and webinar recordings. Each category will expand over time without disrupting the user journey.
The UX approach prioritises clean navigation, predictable pathways, minimal click-depth, and consistent labelling, allowing both data centre operators and DHC stakeholders to quickly locate the material they need. As new resources become available during the pilot phase, they will be integrated into the established structure using a controlled publishing workflow, ensuring version control and quality consistency.
This staged approach enables the Resource Hub to launch early with essential content, while remaining
flexible to accommodate additional materials throughout 2026 as the HRP toolset evolves.

What happens next (Pilot Phase – H1 2026)
H1 goals:

1. Expand platform to more EU cities (building from the prioritised city shortlist).
2. Prepare data centre operators for data submission actions. (EUDCA)
3. Prepare to request and receive required data points from DHNs (EHP)
4. Sourcing of more geospatial data points for DHNs.
5. Source best practice advice, tools, case studies, educational materials from alliance
   partners and others.
6. Implement new functionalities and add more matchmaking logic.

• Capacity-Building: HRP aims to deliver at least 2-3 recorded webinars to populate the resource hub and support early ROM feasibility calculations. Plus add best-practice guides, and feasibility tools.
  
• Pilot Completion Deliverable: Prepare a Lessons-Learned Report and recommendations to shape the Scaling Phase for SC approval -gate to the next phase.