atNorth and Selected Group’s surplus-heat greenhouse partnership integrates data center waste energy with local food production in Denmark
Executive summary: atNorth and Selected Group announced a partnership to use surplus heat from atNorth’s DEN02 data center in Ølgod, Denmark, to power greenhouses for local food cultivation. The initiative enhances Danish food security by enabling sustainable, local agricultural production through energy reuse, reducing reliance on imports and fossil-fuel-heated agriculture.
Who is involved: atNorth (Nordic data center provider) and Selected Group (agri-tech/local produce cultivator), both operating in Denmark.
Likely next: Construction of greenhouse facilities adjacent to or connected to the DEN02 site, with monitoring of energy transfer efficiency and crop yields expected in the coming months.
atNorth’s DEN02 data center in Ølgod will supply waste heat to Selected Group for greenhouse cultivation, creating a closed-loop system that repurposes otherwise lost thermal energy for agricultural output. The collaboration advances Denmark’s food security goals by enabling year-round local produce growth independent of seasonal climate constraints. No financial terms or scale of production were disclosed in the announcement. The project exemplifies industrial symbiosis between digital infrastructure and agri-tech, leveraging geographic proximity for efficiency.
Timeline
- — atNorth and Selected Group Partner to Strengthen Danish Food Security Through Surplus Heat Powered Greenhouse Development (PR Newswire)
Analysis — what this means
Likely next events
- Groundbreaking for greenhouse infrastructure expected within Q4 2026
- First harvest from surplus-heat greenhouse projected for Q2 2027
- Potential expansion to additional atNorth sites in Nordic region if pilot succeeds
Sectors affected
- Data center operations
- Controlled-environment agriculture
- District energy systems
- Local food production in Denmark
Regulatory implications
- May qualify under EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED) Article 14 on waste heat utilization
- Could support Danish national goals for carbon-neutral agriculture by 2030
Historical parallels
- IBM’s Zurich data center heating Swiss homes via excess warmth (2013–present)
- Facebook’s Odense data center supplying district heating to nearby municipality (2020)
- Amazon’s Dublin data center heat reuse project for urban housing (2021)
Sources
- atNorth and Selected Group Partner to Strengthen Danish Food Security Through Surplus Heat Powered Greenhouse Development — PR Newswire
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