Vattenfall, one of Europe’s largest producers and retailers of electricity and heat, announced today that it has joined the Sustainable Digital Infrastructure Alliance (SDIA). The alliance’s mission is to move the global digital sector towards zero-emissions.

SDIA was founded in 2019, as a non-profit entity that uniquely aligns energy suppliers, governments and industry to a mission of decarbonizing the global digital economy. A key focus area for the SDIA is the growth of global data centers, which already generate carbon emissions at levels similar to the aviation  industry. Additionally, the alliance aims to drive collaboration across the value chain to promote a future digital infrastructure with minimal environmental impact.

Max Schulze, SDIA’s Chairman of the Board, said:

“We welcome Vattenfall not only as a new member to the Alliance, but also as one of the first energy companies to put the decarbonization of the digital infrastructure sector on their agenda. Data centers are major energy consumers and energy utilities, such as Vattenfall, bring the knowledge and experience to integrate them effectively as part of the future energy system.”

Schulze added, “”Facilities now frequently reach capacities of 20 MW and more, so there is an enormous potential still untapped for ecological and economic improvements. For example, energy utilities can utilize waste heat from data centers or increase workloads when there is a lot of renewable electricity in the power grid. The SDIA wants to create ​net-positive digital infrastructure which aligns with Vattenfall’s mission to enable fossil-free living within one generation.”

Commenting on Vattenfall’s joining the SDIA, Sjur Jensen, Vice President within Vattenfall Business Area Markets, said:

“It also represents an important step for us to offer our expertise and collaboration towards achieving a more sustainable digital infrastructure sector.

“We see that data centers are growing and digital infrastructure is increasing in importance. As with other large-scale industries, there is the potential for a deeper integration, be it residual heat, flexibility, power-purchase agreements or other synergies. With our support in the SDIA and our pilot facility near Stockholm, we want to facilitate such an integration along the entire value chain.”