The Italian Datacenter Association projects that commercial data centers in Italy will attract €36.9 billion, or $41.5 billion, in capital investment by 2036. This growth is primarily driven by the increasing demand for artificial intelligence workloads and cloud computing services.
The industry aims to increase IT capacity from 460 megawatts in 2025 to approximately 2.3 gigawatts by 2031. While Milan and Lombardy remain the primary hubs, new projects are emerging in Piedmont, Puglia, and Sardinia, supported by €6.8 billion in government-linked program investments.
Despite high interest, the sector faces significant execution challenges. Between 2023 and 2025, the industry realized only 68% of its projected investment, spending €7.1 billion out of a planned €10.5 billion. Analysts suggest that future investment figures should be discounted based on this historical performance.
Grid capacity remains a major bottleneck. Connection requests to the national grid have reached between 60 gigawatts and over 100 gigawatts, yet only 1.9 gigawatts have reached advanced project stages. The government is currently implementing measures to fast-track permits and prioritize data center infrastructure.
