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Project Report
Turning collider heat into home heating
The 27-km LHC has eight surface points. Point 8, home of the LHCb experiment, is located close to the French town of Ferney-Voltaire.( Image: CERN)
As energy systems evolve, large scientific facilities are finding new ways to reduce waste and support local communities. A recent project at CERN shows how excess heat from research infrastructure can be repurposed for everyday use.
By Iryna Mukha, Heat Exchanger World
From particle physics to district heating A new heat exchange system connected to the Large Hadron Collider( LHC) is now supplying heat to homes and businesses in the nearby French town of Ferney-Voltaire. Operational since mid-January and inaugurated in December, the network draws on waste heat from the collider’ s cooling system to serve a developing residential and commercial area. The system is expected to provide heating equivalent to several thousand homes. By substituting conventional energy sources such as gas, it also reduces carbon emissions associated with local heating.
One of the two 5-MW heat exchangers at LHC Point 8( Image: CERN)
How the system works The LHC, a 27-kilometre ring with eight surface access points, relies on extensive cooling to maintain its operations. At Point 8, located near Ferney-Voltaire, water circulates through equipment— particularly cryogenic systems— absorbing heat as it cools the machinery. Previously, this heated water would release its energy into the atmosphere through cooling towers. In the new configuration, the water instead passes through heat exchangers that transfer thermal energy into the local district heating network. The system currently delivers up to 5 megawatts of heat, with the potential to double that output when the collider is fully operational. Even during scheduled maintenance periods, including the Long Shutdown 3 planned for 2026, some level of heat supply is expected to continue.
Part of a broader energy strategy This initiative forms part of a wider effort by CERN to improve energy efficiency and reduce environmental impact. Heat recovery is a key component of its energy management approach, alongside measures to limit consumption and improve overall efficiency. Other projects include a heat-recovery system at CERN’ s Prévessin Data Centre and plans to reuse heat from additional LHC cooling installations. Together, these initiatives are projected to save between 25 and 30 gigawatt-hours of energy annually by 2027, reflecting a broader shift toward sustainability in large-scale scientific research.
40 Heat Exchanger World May 2026 www. heat-exchanger-world. com