- Karlsruhe Institute of Technology plans a €24 million AI data center in Germany, targeting completion by 2029 and operations from 2030, with waste heat recovery and potential expansion from 2 MW to 10 MW.
The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) is planning a new artificial intelligence and scientific computing data center at its Campus North site in Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany. The facility is estimated to cost €24 million ($27.2 million) and is intended to provide additional computing capacity for researchers, universities and publit t7.2 million) and is intended to provide additional computing capacity for researchers, universities and puo a combined heat and power plant at Campus North. The building is expected to be completed by the end of 2029, with operations scheduled to begin in 2030. KIT said the data center will support data-intensive applications, AI workloads and scientific simulations.
The initial facility is expected to consume around 2 MW of power, although its precise IT computing capacity has not yet been determined. The project will be developed in phases, with the power supply designed to be expanded to as much as 10 MW if demand for computing services increases.
A key feature of the project is its planned waste-heat recovery system. Heat generated by servers will be transferred into the local district heating network through heat pumps and used to supply buildings on the Campus North site. KIT said the approach is intended to improve the efficiency of the facility while supporting its wider decarbonisation and sustainability efforts.
The data center is also being designed to adjust computing resources according to demand. During the day, capacity can be allocated to AI applications when demand is higher, while the same infrastructure can be used at night for resource-intensive scientific simulations, including climate research.
Dr. Martin Nußbaumer, a director at KIT’s Scientific Computing Center, said the flexible operating model is intended to reduce idle capacity while strengthening digital sovereignty through locally developed AI services.
Professor Kora Kristof, KIT’s Vice President for Digitalization and Sustainability, said the project will provide infrastructure for future research and AI applications while making use of waste heat to support campus buildings.
KIT’s project comes as universities and research institutions in Germany expand dedicated computing infrastructure to support AI and high-performance computing. The University of Stuttgart began construction of a new supercomputer data center in December 2025, while KIT’s facility is expected to add further research-oriented computing capacity in Baden-Wurttemberg.
The project is therefore positioned to combine AI computing, scientific research and energy recovery within a single digital infrastructure facility, with the ability to expand its power capacity as computing requirements grow.
