Ten thousand homes in London will be the first in the UK to be warmed using waste heat generated by computer data centres.
A £36 million package of government support announced on Friday will see a heat network created, that will warm 9,000 homes and 250,000m2 of commercial space that are being built at the Old Oak West development in north-west London.
The network - which will recycle waste heat from large nearby computer systems storing internet data - will also heat a further 1,000 existing local homes, and businesses.
The project will "help keep bills low and contribute to the UK’s drive to reach net zero by 2050", the Government said on Friday.
Old Oak West is being built by The Old Oak and Park Royal Development Corporation (OPDC), which was established by the Mayor of London to help regenerate a 650-hectare area spanning three London boroughs – Ealing, Brent and Hammersmith & Fulham.
The development is being built around the future HS2 Old Oak Common Station.
The groundbreaking heat network will be paid for using a £36 million grant, awarded through the government's Green Heat Network Fund.
OPDC chief executive David Lunts said: "Recycling the huge amounts of wasted heat from our local data centres into heat and energy for local residents, a major hospital and other users is an exciting and innovative example of OPDC’s support for the mayor’s net zero ambitions.
"We are excited to be leading the way in developing low carbon infrastructure, supporting current and future generations of Londoners in Old Oak and Park Royal to live more sustainably."
Heating buildings makes up 30 per cent of all UK emissions, says the government.
Heat networks supply heating and hot water - through heat pumps or sources from underground, manufacturing, and waste management - mean homes and businesses do not need individual, energy-intensive heating solutions, such as gas boilers.
Matthew Basnett, the Association for Decentralised Energy’s heat network policy lead, said the project will help "keep more than 10,000 homes warm, comfortable and affordable in the long term".
It is one of five innovative green heating projects that have received a share of nearly £65 million from the Green Heat Network Fund, in a bid to deliver cleaner, low-cost heating to residents and businesses.
Two other London projects have also received funding.
The Borough of Brent will receive nearly £5.2 million for the South Kilburn District Heat Network, supplying heat using heat pumps combined with back up gas boilers to 34 sites via a 2.79km pipe network, connecting 2,900 customers.
Not-for-profit housing association Watford Community Housing (WCH), with approximately 5,700 homes, will receive £1.8 million of funding to replace an old gas district heating system with ground source and air source heat pumps. This will provide heat to 252 apartments across six blocks.
A new heat pump housing estate in Suffolk's Chilton Woods will also see nearly 1,000 homes and a primary school provided with low carbon heating.
Energy Security Secretary Claire Coutinho said on Friday: "Innovative projects, like these announced today, are another example of why the UK is a world leader in cutting carbon emissions.
"We are investing in the technologies of the future so that families across the country will now be able to warm their homes with low-carbon, recycled heat - while creating thousands of new skilled jobs."
Lord Callanan, Minister for Energy Efficiency and Green Finance, added: "Keeping homes warm with waste heat from technology is a glimpse into the future - and demonstrates just how innovative this country can be when it comes to reducing our carbon emissions.
"The £65 million we’ve awarded today will help spread this success across the country, by rolling out innovative low-carbon heating to help to drive down energy bills and deliver our net zero goal."
