A leisure park developer is planning to heat a surfing lagoon in New Zealand using a solar-powered data center.
Founded in 2019, Aventuur describes itself as a "global creator of integrated surf park developments."
The company is currently developing a AU$100 million ($64.6m) surf park in Perth, Australia, that is set to open in 2025, as well as a "sustainable surf park community" in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Auckland site, which will include a 2.2-hectare surfing lagoon, will house a data center powered by a nearby solar farm that will use waste heat to warm the water. Having secured a site, Aventuur said it is in the early stages of planning for the project.
“In a world-first, we’re seeking to capture the heat generated by an on-site data center to warm the water of our lagoon – delivering optimal surfing conditions year-round,” the company said. “To create a sustainable virtuous circle, a 7-hectare solar farm (also located on-site) will provide renewable energy for the data center.”
Aventuur says it will be investing $50-100 million in each of its parks.
“We expect to be able to keep the lagoon temperature around 18 to 19 degrees all year round. Anyone who's surfed in New Zealand during the winter will be thrilled with this news,” project partner Sir John Kirwan told NZ’s NewsBeezer. “No one else in the world has done it this way and we are particularly proud of this innovation. This means that users of the park can surf not only in a safe environment, but also, literally, in a warm and welcoming environment. This will also ensure that the surf park attracts both domestic and international tourists.”
Specifics around the data center weren’t shared at this time. DCD has reached out for more details.
Update: Aventuur told us it wasn't ready to share more information on the Auckland Surf Park data center at this time.
While a surfing lagoon is a novelty, using data centers to heat pools is a relatively regular occurrence. This year alone has seen a bathhouse in Brooklyn, New York, heat its spa pools with waste heat from Bitcoin mining rigs, while a new startup in the UK is planning on rolling out dozens of Edge pods to swimming pools across the country.
French firm Stimergy heated a swimming pool in Paris in 2017 but does not appear to be currently active.
Last year Equinix said "multiple sustainability initiatives" are planned for its PA10 facility in Paris, including a heat recovery technology project designed to heat the local community swimming pool.
NorthC's Aalsmeer data center in the Netherlands ships heat to a local swimming pool.
