E-Heat Merikarvia

Vatajankoski's Merikarvia Data Center is a 1.5MW prefabricated modular facility designed to support the local district heating network in Merikarvia, Finland. The project repurposes a former sawmill site, acquired by the municipality for €725,000, to provide up to 90% of the area's heating needs using waste heat from data center operations.

The facility, already deployed and operational, is expected to be fully integrated into the heating network by autumn 2025. Previously, the district heating system relied on light fuel oil, increasing energy costs after the sawmill's closure. The data center will significantly reduce reliance on combustion-based heating, with solar energy being considered as an additional renewable source.

Vatajankoski has experience in heat-recycling data centers, having deployed a 2MW facility in Kankaanpää that supplies 20% of the local district heating demand. The Merikarvia site may expand further, with plans for additional data centers to serve other tenants in the area.