Energy & Sustainability

Could olive waste power a Croatian data centre?

Could olive waste power a Croatian data centre?

Could the olive-growing industry be of benefit to data centre development? That’s a question that a new biomass-powered data centre planned in Croatia may be able to answer.

Croatian engineering solutions firm Inovapro says it is planning to develop a green AI data centre in Čaporice near Trilj, some 48 kilometres) northeast of Split, the coastal city that is the second largest in Croatia after the capital Zagreb.

The US$23.8 million project will total around 3MW. Construction work will begin soon and is due to be completed in the first half of 2027.

However, that alone isn’t what makes this facility newsworthy. After all the country has some 16 facilities from 13 operators, according to the Data Center Map website.

This facility, however, will be located at an energy park that will generate biomass power from waste from the olive industry, as well as waste from the tourist and hospitality industries.

As the Data Centre Dynamics news service explains, the agro-energy park in Čaporice would use waste material from olive growing. This is pomace, the pulpy residue remaining after fruit has been crushed in order to extract its juice. Most of the olive fruit is wasted after oil production and can be difficult to deal with due to acidity and toxicity.

There’s even a circular element to this, as heat from the data centre would be re-used by the energy park to dry out much of the olive pomace. Designed for a capacity of 12,900 tons of bio-waste per year, the plant is being built on a five-hectare site.

The news service Bioenergy Insight says that Inovapro, which specialises in rooftop solar systems, HVAC installations and other energy-related projects, is seeking co-financing from European Union funds to support the development.

It adds that the project reflects a broader trend of repurposing agricultural waste to meet the substantial energy demands of data centres, which require significant cooling and power infrastructure.



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