Nivos Has Won the Climate Act of 2016 Award for Waste Heat Recovery Project

Article originally published at the Nivos website. Reposted here with permission.

The winner of the award “Climate Act of 2016” is the venture led by Nivos, in which Russia’s largest search engine company Yandex’s  data center’s surplus heat is redirected into the district heating network. The winner was chosen by the sustainable development forum of Finnish Energy.

The surplus heat created in the data parlors of Yandex is collected and distributed into households in Mäntsälä. The power of the heat recovery plant which operates jointly with the data center is approximately 4 Megawatts and it produces 20 GWh of district heat annually. That amount of energy is equivalent to the amount of heat energy a thousand houses use in a year. Because of this venture, we have also been able to lower our district heating prices. Heat recycling also brings about a significant impact on the environment, since the carbon dioxide emissions are reduced by 40% in district heating, which corresponds to the EU set objective for emission reductions in 2030. There is a plan in place for an extension of the data center, which would increase the positive effects.      

The reasoning behind the selection of the winner

The sustainable development forum chose Nivos Oy as the winner, because a venture of this magnitude is a truly unique solution of the future and it directly decreases the emissions of the municipality of Mäntsälä. The forum hopes that the awarded venture will encourage even more data centers to be located in Finland, which would benefit energy efficiency. When considering emissions, the forum thinks that this venture is particularly good, because emissions from heating are a much larger problem than emissions from electricity, for which many energy efficient solutions can be found easier.  

Parties involved in cooperation are proud of the nomination

Esa Muukka, CEO of Nivos is delighted of the recognition the venture has received.

”This recognition feels especially good. We are constantly searching for new ways to operate efficiently for the benefit of the citizens of the municipality and for the environment"

”Without the cooperation of Yandex and the data center equipment supplier Calefa, this would have not been successful. I hope, that we inspire other operators to cross over industry borders”, continues Muukka.  

The data center manager Ari Kurvi is pleased with the recognition “Yandex as a company has strived to be the forerunner in this type of venture that also brings a positive economic impact to Yandex. This shows that in Finland you can find the know-how and will to boldly find and execute new energy efficient solutions without any prejudices”    

“This is a great example of how great results are achieved by cooperation! This venture offered us an excellent opportunity as the equipment supplier to show how big of an impact can be achieved”   Vesa Tamminen CEO  of Calefa comments.