Developing energy and water solutions for data centres
UK data centres are growing fast and powering the digital world, from AI and cloud computing to the advanced technologies of Industry 4.0 and 5.0, the collaboration between humans and machines. As demand rises, you need to secure energy and water, improve performance and use resources more efficiently. By combining our infrastructure development, operational performance and resource optimisation experience, Veolia supports forward-thinking operators from hyperscales, colocations, enterprises to edges, to scale their business with certainty and confidence.
Looking at building a new data centre?
Power availability determines whether a site can progress, but a grid connection is only part of the solution. Planning, water, cooling, emissions, future expansion and integration with the surrounding area must be considered together in your data centre development strategy.
Veolia can help you:
- establish a practical power route and low-carbon pathway
- reduce grid dependence through microgrids, onsite generation, energy storage and IDNO, coordinate cooling, water and heat recovery
- design, build, operate and maintain utility infrastructure long-term
- support technical evidence for planning, permitting and integrate the development with its surroundings through heat networks, social value and biodiversity measures
Operating or expanding a data centre?
At Veolia, we understand that your grid connection is valuable, but connected capacity and usable capacity are not always the same. Cooling performance, electrical losses, water use and asset condition can restrict the additional compute your facility can support.
Veolia helps you:
- identify operational headroom in existing power, cooling and water systems
- improve PUE and WUE, manage peak demand and increase ERF (Energy Reuse Factor) with cooling optimisation, battery storage and heat recovery
- enhancing cooling water quality, efficiency and resilience
- prepare systems for higher-density AI workloads and Tier upgrades
- deliver energy and water services with operations, maintenance, asset adoption and private wire models
Why choose Veolia?
Delivering resilient digital infrastructure requires integrated power, heat recovery, water and resource management. Veolia supports the data centre ecosystem with solutions that improve operational resilience, optimise performance and prepare infrastructure for future growth.
Through Veolia Group's Data Centre Resource 360 approach, we help customers achieve:
of off-grid microgrid generation for a site
energy reuse efficiency enhancement
water footprint reduction
waste recycling and reuse
Our energy solutions
Whether you’re securing new power, exploring alternatives to traditional supply, optimising connected capacity (making the most of your existing grid connection) or improving operational performance, Veolia helps you develop resilient, low-carbon energy strategies that support long-term growth with:
- Energy security by building resilient energy infrastructure to support operational continuity
- Energy optimisation with smarter monitoring, optimisation and demand management
- Enhance thermal performance with energy-efficient cooling, cold thermal storage and waste heat recovery
How can Veolia help data centres achieve energy efficiency?
Power independence
- Solar photovoltaic systems
- Battery energy storage systems (BESS)
- Behind-the-meter energy solutions
- On-site energy generation and renewable energy integration
- Microgrids and waste heat recovery
Operational efficiency
- Energy management systems
- Connected capacity optimisation
- Demand flexibility and peak demand management
- Energy monitoring and analytics
- Cold thermal storage and cooling optimisation
- Thermal energy management
- District heating opportunities
Our water solutions
As cooling demand increases, effective water management is essential to operational resilience, efficiency and environmental performance. Veolia helps data centres optimise water use across the entire lifecycle of their facilities, improving cooling performance while reducing consumption and supporting long-term resilience.
Looking to improve water resilience?
Speak to our water specialists about building a smarter water strategy for your data centre.
How can Veolia help data centres achieve water resilience?
Water independence
Reduce consumption, recycle, and build supply resilience
- Water treatment
- Water reuse and recycling
- Closed-loop water solutions
- Wastewater treatment
- Water resilience planning
Operational efficiency
Optimise cooling, reduce waste, and strengthen compliance
- Cooling water optimisation
- Water efficiency programmes
- Environmental compliance
Proven results
Ohio, USA
Veolia will operate and maintain a 350-megawatt off-grid microgrid for an Ohio AI data centre campus. The system uses gas generation and battery storage to deliver power quickly while reducing demand on the public electricity network.
Brunswick, Germany
Veolia delivered a waste heat recovery project to utilise heat from data centres to supply the urban heating network, benefiting 56,000 residents.
Barcelona, Spain
Veolia, in partnership with Enagas and supported by the Barcelona City Council, has delivered a project that enables three data centres to benefit from a carbon-free cooling system using wasted cold energy.
Mississippi, USA
Veolia is partnering with Amazon to reuse 83 million gallons of reclaimed water annually for data centre cooling in Mississippi, equivalent to 760 homes' water use, supporting Amazon's water positive goal by 2030.
How Veolia helps data centres build operational resilience
Protecting the environment protects your business. By optimising materials, recovering value from assets and reducing waste, we help your business boost long-term performance. How we do this:
- Extend asset life, recover value, and reduce waste through circular recovery such as battery recycling, secure IT asset handling and more
- Align your strategies with compliance and sustainability to meet obligations, reduce impact, and strengthen credentials
Every kilogramme of material recovered is CAPEX avoided. Every compliant process reduces risk. Every sustainable choice strengthens your competitive advantage.
Data centre updates
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Speak to our team
Find out how we can support your data centre with our energy, water and resource optimisation solutions.
Whether you’re delivering a hyperscale campus, expanding a colocation facility, supporting enterprise infrastructure or enabling edge deployments, we help you build the resource strategy needed to support long-term growth. Ready to scale with certainty?