District heating in Dresden is to be generated in a climate-friendly and CO2-free manner step by step. To this end, waste heat from servers is now being used for the first time at the Technical University (TU) of Dresden: Three large heat pumps are converting the superfluous waste heat from the university's high-performance computers into district heating. This was announced jointly by the municipal utility company SachsenEnergie, the TU and the state-owned company Sächsisches Immobilien- und Baumanagement. The project was realized in 2023 as one of the first waste heat projects of its kind in Germany.
With a total output of 3.9 megawatts, up to 24,000 megawatt hours of green heat could be generated per year - enough to supply around 3,700 average Dresden households. Compared to conventional district heating generation using gas, this would avoid around 2,700 tons of CO2.
The sustainable use of waste heat from TU Dresden's high-performance computers is an example of how the state capital can achieve its climate targets, emphasized Dresden's Lord Mayor Dirk Hilbert. At the same time, the project shows how greater independence from gas can be achieved in the heat supply.
