Hetzner wants to become greener: HT clean energy to operate solar parks

The data centers of hosting and cloud provider Hetzner are to become more sustainable in future. To this end, Hetzner founded HT clean Energy GmbH together with MHB Montage GmbH in 2024. It will plan, build and operate solar parks and large-scale battery storage facilities in Germany, for example. The founders want to secure a sustainable energy supply and "contribute to the reduction of fossil fuels and climate protection".

According to the announcement, the start-up's first solar park is currently under construction in Nassau-Weikersheim. Solar panels are to generate around 6.5 megawatts of electricity on almost seven hectares, enough to supply 1800 households. Further such solar parks are being planned. In the long term, they will supply Hetzner's data centers entirely with electricity from its own generation.

Sustainable data center operation

The challenge is to match the increasing demand for computing power with a reliable and sustainable energy supply. Hetzner is already focusing on conserving resources in data centers, both in planning and in operation. The fact that the Hetzner servers are cooled exclusively with outside air on up to 358 days a year saves a considerable amount of energy. Since 2008, 100 percent of the power supply has been based on hydropower, and in Finland on wind power as well.

Hetzner's goal is therefore not only to meet growing capacity requirements, but also to supply the data centers entirely with self-generated renewable energy. In the long term, this should secure the company's independence and at the same time make a contribution to the energy transition. "This step shows that technological innovation and ecological responsibility can go hand in hand," writes Hetzner.

In addition to Hetzner, other hosters are also focusing on renewable energies: United Internet, for example, states that the data centers of Ionos and 1&1 are operated emission-free "as standard". However, there is still a problem with the fiber optic networks and office buildings in particular. Although almost all data center operators consider sustainability to be important, only half were using green electricity in mid-2023. This will certainly change in the future, as the traffic light government has adopted far-reaching requirements for data center operators with an energy efficiency law. But there is also another way: waste heat from data centers, for example, can be used as a source of district heating.

(dmk)