One of the most well-known hotels in Invercargill and a technology company have partnered up to turn data centre heat waste into an asset.
The company behind the project, the T4 Group, yesterday confirmed the location of the proposed $50 million Tier IV-quality modular data centre in Southland.
T4 Group director David Simpson said the proposed new data centre site would be near the Ascot Park Hotel, off Racecourse Rd.
The location would also allow an innovative partnership to develop between the company and the Invercargill Licensing Trust (ILT), which owned and managed the facility, he said.
Using the waste heat generated by the data centre to heat the hotel would turn what historically had been a liability for many data centres around the world into an asset.
"It is wonderful to have the site here in Invercargill.
"We are looking into options to utilise the heat created by the data centre to heat the Ascot Park Hotel, reducing the need for coal and making both buildings very efficient and sustainable."
ILT chief executive Chris Ramsay said the partnership was in the very early stages and details still needed to be worked through.
However, he was excited with the potential benefit it could bring to the business.
The data centre would be located on land north of the hotel, he said.
"It is very exciting; the T4 Group and ILT have been working together for a number of months now to understand how it could work.
"One of the main benefits is that we could create a fair bit of energy efficiency for the hotel and the infrastructure, the pipeworks are largely in place."
He said the partnership fit the ILT’s aim to become more sustainable and get away from the use of coal.
"Our absolute aim is to reduce coal completely from the site.
"Whether this is achieved through this initiative or whether this initiative assists in achieving that, our ultimate aim is get out of the use of coal.
"This definitely kick-starts the whole process."
Mr Simpson said construction at the site was expected to start later this year and would be done in a modular format to enable the data centre to constantly adjust to use best practice as technology changed.
"Transferring our surplus heat is one of the sustainability innovations we are really proud of."
