ANN FENG
Director of Innovation & Development for the Microelectronics Market
Data centers have become strategic infrastructure, but their resource consumption is raising new challenges around local acceptability.
In 2024, they consumed approximately 415 TWh of electricity worldwide, representing nearly 1.5% of global demand. According to the IEA, this consumption could more than double by 2030, reaching 945 TWh, driven by digital technology and the rise of artificial intelligence.
For operators and local authorities alike, the challenge now is to balance performance, resource efficiency, and local benefits. Territorial integration has become the essential condition for data centers' long-term sustainability.
Waste heat recovery, cooling water reuse, waste management: the circular economy is transforming data centers into drivers of local resilience.
With our integrated Data Center Resource 360 offering, I invite you to discover how Veolia supports this transition toward sustainable data centers that are truly integrated into their local communities.
Data Center Resource 360: An Offering for Sustainable Data Centers
Building on our proven successes around the world, we have brought together all of our expertise into a single solution: the comprehensive Data Center Resource 360 offering.
This offer helps accelerate the licensing process, reduce project timelines, and ensure uncompromising performance. The benefits are tangible: resource security, cost reduction, societal acceptability, and competitive advantage.
Designed to address the challenges faced by industrial operators and municipalities alike, it is built on four pillars: reliability, a negative carbon footprint, waste circularity, and a positive water footprint. Through integrated energy, water, and waste management, we offer:
Energy
Up to 20% energy reuse efficiency through waste heat recovery, supplying district heating networks and industrial facilities.
Water
Up to 75% reduction in water footprint through water reuse, enabled by autonomous, containerized systems.
Waste
Up to 95% of waste recycled and reused through a circular waste management approach, targeting a 95% recycling rate.
Reliability
Real-time optimization through Hubgrade, combining AI and predictive analytics, enhanced by Amazon Web Services’ AI capabilities.
Who is the Data Center Resource 360 Offering For?
Data center operators
Municipalities and local authorities
Colocation clients2
Edge infrastructure clients3
Technology companies seeking sustainability
Circular economy and ecological transition stakeholders
Veolia, the International Data Center Expert: Success Stories
Veolia designed, implemented, and now operates an innovative system for recovering waste heat from a large data center. This thermal energy, once lost to the atmosphere, is now fed directly into a 365-kilometer district heating network managed by Veolia. Thanks to this circular initiative, more than 56,000 residents benefit from low-carbon heating, harnessing a total capacity of 800 MW.
Our teams optimized the cooling system chemistry for a major operator. By increasing concentration cycles through a patented automatic control system, Veolia reduced water consumption by 50% while generating $150,000 in annual cost savings for the site.
Veolia provides complete operational management for two major Digital Realty data centers. Through real-time monitoring and predictive maintenance, our teams ensure 99.999% uptime across a total managed area of 428,000 square feet.
Our strategic partnership with Amazon demonstrates how to reduce the water footprint of a large-scale data center. This ambitious project, set to become operational in 2027, will leverage Veolia's autonomous treatment technologies to recycle more than 314 million liters of wastewater annually.
These tangible achievements demonstrate that digital performance and environmental responsibility can go hand in hand. By transforming industrial waste streams into valuable resources for municipalities, Veolia is laying the foundations for a new industrial era in which infrastructure becomes a true partner to local communities.
Building a Responsible Digital Future Together
As climate change accelerates, marked by devastating droughts and wildfires, there is a critical need to implement comprehensive resource management for digital development. The era when data centers could operate in isolated silos is over. The growth of digital infrastructure will depend on its ability to integrate intelligently into local communities.
Today, we must design projects that deliver measurable environmental and social value to local populations. Through circular economy opportunities, we enable operators to grow with confidence while protecting our precious ecosystems. The technologies exist, proven successes are already here, and the benefits for communities are undeniable.
It is up to us to scale this virtuous model and make digital technology a true driver of the global ecological transition.
4 key takeaways from Veolia’s Data Center Resource 360 offering
- Reducing the water and carbon footprint of data centers while creating value for local communities.
- Integrated energy, water, and waste management, along with the circular economy, are at the heart of this offering, backed by proven solutions and international references.
- Societal acceptability and territorial resilience are ensured through a transparent, responsible approach aligned with stakeholders.
- Industrial operators and municipalities benefit from comprehensive support from permitting to operational performance to accelerate their sustainable digital strategy.
Contact an expert
Want to optimize your facilities' water and energy footprint?
Our teams will guide you from the initial audit right through to implementation.
1 I invite you to read my article on the subject: How data centers can earn their place in the communities they serve.
2 Tenants who host their servers, sharing a building's infrastructure.
3 Small data center infrastructure, typically located within a municipality rather than on the outskirts.