As data centre capacity continues to expand across Europe, the industry faces increasing pressure to demonstrate measurable climate impact, resource efficiency, and local value creation. Waste heat reuse has emerged as one of the most promising – yet structurally complex – levers to turn energy consumption into a shared economic and environmental asset. 
 
This panel brings together key stakeholders from municipal leadership, energy utilities, and data centre operators to explore how heat reuse can evolve from a technical afterthought into a bankable infrastructure partnership model. 
 
At the core of the discussion lies a fundamental question: Who owns the economics of heat reuse – the operator, the municipality or the energy provider? Panellists will examine how responsibilities, risks and revenues can be fairly distributed, and what governance models enable long-term viability.
 
Building on real-world projects and urban development examples, the session will address: 
• How to structure contracts and cross-sector partnerships that create durable ESG value rather than short-term compliance wins 
• The investment case for integrating heat reuse into early-stage site planning and district development 
• The role of utilities in aggregating, distributing and commercialising low-grade heat 
• Whether digitalisation and AI-driven forecasting can improve predictability of heat output and enable more efficient grid integration 
 
The discussion will focus on practical implementation pathways, regulatory barriers, and replicable business models. 
 
Rather than treating waste heat as a by-product, this session reframes it as a strategic interface between digital infrastructure and urban energy systems – and as a potential revenue stream that aligns climate responsibility with investment logic.