AirJoule and NZIH to test turning data center waste heat into water

AirJoule Technologies and the Net Zero Innovation Hub for Data Centers plan to test whether data center waste heat can be converted into usable water. As part of the tie-up, an AirJoule Prime system will be installed at a hub member site, where the process is expected to be validated at commercial scale, according to Data Center Dynamics.

The system relies on metal-organic frameworks — porous polymers with strong binding properties and a large surface area that, in theory, make the material well suited to binding with particles such as water. AirJoule says its thermodynamic process turns low-grade waste heat into usable water within industrial and infrastructure settings.

NZIH is a pan-European, industry-led group launched in September 2023 and headquartered in Fredericia, Denmark, with Google, Microsoft, and Data4 among its members. The hub acts as a proving ground where data center operators test, de-risk, and accelerate green energy, cooling, and backup technologies. AirJoule was part of the hub's first cohort, and this initiative sits under the hub's broader heat reuse and heat-to-X workstream.

Alberto Ravagni, NZIH's chief executive, framed heat-to-water as an option for operators without district heating connections. "Not all data centers have access to district heating infrastructure, which is why we need to explore other ways to create value from the heat they generate," he told Data Center Dynamics. Through the heat-to-X workstream, he said, the hub is working with AirJoule and its members to validate heat-to-water as one potential pathway for turning otherwise untapped heat into a resource for communities beyond the data center fence.

The hub has already begun one sourcing exercise: in November 2024 it issued a request for information on low-carbon substitutes for diesel backup generators. The AirJoule agreement is earlier-stage. The announcement, as reported, names no specific member site and discloses no investment amount or commercial terms. That makes it a test of engineering before a test of price.