QARNOT COMPUTING

Their core work

Qarnot Computing is a French technology company that transforms the problem of computing waste heat into a heating asset: their distributed computing units are embedded directly into buildings, where CPU and GPU heat warms the space instead of being vented to atmosphere via cooling systems. This "digital boiler" model means they simultaneously deliver HPC services to cloud customers and free thermal energy to building occupants, cutting both the carbon footprint of computing and heating costs. Their H2020 work spans two sides of this model — validating energy-efficient HPC architectures (EeHPC) and integrating data centres as active participants in energy flexibility markets (CATALYST). In practical terms, they operate at the boundary between cloud computing infrastructure and energy systems, a position very few SMEs occupy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 project (EeHPC, 2014-2015), the focus was on proving the core concept: can HPC be made energy-efficient enough to justify embedding it inside buildings? This was an SME Instrument Phase 1 feasibility study, signalling early-stage technology validation. By 2017, when they joined CATALYST as a participant in a larger Innovation Action, the conversation had shifted from efficiency in isolation to integration — data centres as active players in energy flexibility ecosystems, responding to grid signals and participating in demand-response markets. The trajectory is clear: from component-level efficiency to system-level energy market participation.

Qarnot is moving toward positioning distributed computing infrastructure as a controllable energy flexibility resource — a direction aligned with European smart grid and demand-response priorities, making them a natural fit for energy digitalisation consortia.

How they like to work

Qarnot has acted as both coordinator and participant across their two projects, suggesting they are comfortable leading when the scope matches their core technology and joining larger consortia when the topic expands beyond it. With 9 partners across 6 countries from just 2 projects, they build reasonably broad networks for their size. As a small SME, they tend to bring highly specific technical assets rather than broad programme management capacity — expect them to be a focused specialist contributor in large consortia.

Nine unique consortium partners across six countries from only two projects indicates they select partners deliberately rather than accumulating large networks. Their geographic spread is European but the sample is too small to identify a clear country preference.

What sets them apart

Qarnot occupies an almost singular niche: they are not a data centre operator, not a heating company, and not a pure HPC provider — they are the junction between all three. This makes them a rare asset for consortia that need to demonstrate real-world integration of computing infrastructure into building energy management or grid flexibility. For any project that needs a technology company with a live, deployable product at the computing-energy boundary, Qarnot is one of very few SMEs in Europe that can fill that role.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CATALYST
  The largest-budget project and the one that placed Qarnot inside a broader Innovation Action ecosystem, demonstrating their technology's relevance to European energy flexibility policy.
• EeHPC
  Coordinator role on an SME Instrument Phase 1 grant — the formal moment Qarnot validated their energy-efficient HPC concept at EU level.