UK wants more homes heated by waste heat from datacenters

The UK government is investing £90 million ($119 million) in building and improving heat networks that utilize excess heat energy from datacenters and factories to warm homes and other purposes. Over 750,000 homes will benefit from cheaper heating under this scheme, which includes plans for a "mega heat project" involving the distribution of hot water through a tunnel under the River Thames.

This initiative is backed by £41 million ($54 million) in funding and will supply 650,000 London homes with clean heat, reducing the city's reliance on gas. However, the first question is when this project might materialize, as the Thames "super sewer" project took 9 years to complete at a cost of £5 billion ($6.6 billion). The government states that the £41 million funding is solely for the barge part of the project, expected to commence in 2028, while the tunnels are planned for the 2030s.

Critics point out that waste heat from datacenters is typically too low for applications like domestic heating and requires a heat pump, which consumes more energy. Nonetheless, a survey reveals that 60% of Britons believe planning permission for datacenters should depend on them supplying excess heat to local homes and businesses, with 62% supporting a project in their area that commits to this.