The corresponding servers are cooled with water, said Meik Möllers, the head of building management. The cooling water has a temperature of around 45 degrees Celsius when it leaves the cluster. A high-temperature heat pump heats the water to 75 degrees, then it is fed into the university’s heating network. “Since the heat from the data center is available all year round, it can be used, for example, to heat the university swimming pool,” said Möllers.
According to the information, the annual heat output of the heat recovery system is around 500,000 kilowatt hours. This corresponds to the heating requirements of around 30 four-person households or a saving of over 100 tons of CO₂. The university invested 2.5 million euros of its own funds to bring the cooling and power supply of the scientific computers up to date, and a further 300,000 euros came from project funds.