Italy's data centre industry is set for significant expansion over the coming years, prompting the Lombardy regional government to introduce a new legal framework to regulate and manage growing demand for digital infrastructure. 
The new law is intended to guide the development of data centres in Lombardy, Italy's leading economic region and home to Milan, which remains the country's primary hub for the sector. According to regional councillor Massimo Sertori, Italy is expected to attract around EUR 22 billion in data centre investments over the next five years, with Lombardy likely to secure between EUR 10 billion and EUR 12 billion of that total. 
Regional authorities estimate that Italy will add approximately 3 gigawatts of new data centre capacity during this period. Of this, around 1.5 to 2 gigawatts is expected to be developed in Lombardy alone, highlighting the region's dominant position in the country's digital infrastructure landscape. 
A key objective of the legislation is to encourage developers to utilise brownfield sites, including abandoned industrial areas, instead of building on agricultural land or protected green spaces. To support this approach, Lombardy plans to make brownfield developments more financially attractive while increasing costs for projects proposed on farmland and environmentally sensitive locations. 
Regional officials indicated that projects involving agricultural land would face construction charges that are 100% higher, while developments proposed within parks or sensitive areas would attract charges that are 200% higher. 
The move comes as demand for data storage, cloud computing and artificial intelligence infrastructure continues to grow across Europe. Italy has increasingly emerged as an attractive market due to its strategic location, strong connectivity and expanding digital economy. 
Research from the Data Center Observatory at Milan's Politecnico University shows that the Milan metropolitan area accounts for 68% of Italy's installed nominal data centre power capacity. The study also found that Milan represents 23% of all announced data centre investments across Europe, underlining the city's importance within the continent's digital infrastructure network. 
Sertori said the expansion of the sector was expected to continue and that authorities believed it was better to manage and simplify the process rather than react to it later. He added that the region was actively encouraging investments in former industrial sites while discouraging development on undeveloped land. 
The university study further revealed that between 2026 and 2028, around 30 companies, including 19 new operators entering the Italian market, have announced 83 infrastructure projects with a combined potential value of EUR 25.4 billion. 
However, industry growth may face some hurdles. Around 72% of the announced investments are being driven by international operators that are not yet active in Italy, and project timelines could be affected by the absence of a standardised approval process across the country. 
Development costs also remain substantial. Industry estimates suggest that constructing the infrastructure for a 100-megawatt data centre, excluding servers and equipment, requires an investment of approximately EUR 1 billion, equivalent to around EUR 10 million per megawatt. 
While Rome and Milan continue to host the majority of Italy's estimated 205 operational data centres, southern Italy is increasingly attracting attention from investors. The Puglia region, particularly the city of Bari, is positioning itself as a major digital hub due to the presence of submarine fibre-optic cables connecting Europe with the Middle East and other international markets. 
Among the notable proposals is a plan to transform the site of a former tobacco factory in Bari into a 200-megawatt data centre. Construction on the project is expected to begin toward the end of this year. 
Puglia's regional councillor for economic development, Eugenio Di Sciascio, said the Bari area was receiving strong interest because it serves as a key connectivity gateway through the Adriatic Sea. He noted that authorities were receiving a double-digit number of requests from companies looking to establish data centres in the region. 
Source Reuters