New Blog Post: Bridging Research and Real-World Applications—MODERATOR Partners Visit ITA Group Facilities in Northern Greece

MODERATOR has published a new blog post following the consortium’s 24-Month Plenary Meeting in Serres, Greece, held on 4–5 February 2026.

The first day of the meeting focused on technical coordination and progress across the project’s work packages. On the second day, MODERATOR partners visited key facilities in Northern Greece under the auspices of ITA Group, gaining first-hand insight into real-world applications of energy systems that are closely aligned with the project’s vision.

The visits included hydroponic greenhouses in Drama, the THERMI Serres cogeneration and district heating plant, and the Midiki Serron alfalfa dehydration unit. Together, these sites demonstrated how thermal energy can be reused across different sectors, including agriculture, urban heating and agri-food processing.

The new blog post explains how these examples are relevant to MODERATOR’s work on immersion cooling, waste-heat recovery, thermal energy storage and advanced insulation. It also highlights how recovered heat from data centres could support practical applications such as greenhouse heating, district heating networks and low- to medium-temperature industrial processes.

By connecting project research with existing regional energy infrastructures, the site visits provided a valuable opportunity to explore how data centres could become active contributors to local circular energy systems.

Read the full blog post here