# Italy’s Data-Center Sector Projects $41.5 Billion Through 2036

By Simon Yoon

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/technology/27789
Published: 2026-10-08T06:34:27.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-08T06:34:27.000Z
Section: Technology

> Commercial IT capacity is projected to rise from 460 megawatts in 2025 to about 2.3 gigawatts by 2031, but grid and permitting constraints remain.

Italy’s commercial data-center sector is projected to attract $41.5 billion through 2036 as artificial intelligence and cloud computing drive demand for new infrastructure.

Commercial IT capacity is projected to rise from 460 megawatts in 2025 to about 2.3 gigawatts by 2031. The Italian Datacenter Association is scheduled to present the figures at its Data Center Symposium in Rome on Oct. 8, 2026.

The expansion depends on faster grid connections, additional energy infrastructure and streamlined permitting. Grid-connection requests have been estimated at between 60 gigawatts and more than 100 gigawatts, but the figures are not reconciled by date or methodology.

About 1.9 gigawatts of projects have reached advanced development stages. That comparison places connection-request volumes well above the capacity of projects currently identified as being in advanced development, although connection requests are not equivalent to active project capacity.

From 2023 through 2025, the sector invested about 68% of the amount projected for that period. The historical realization rate does not determine how much of the longer-term investment projection will be completed.

Milan and Lombardy remain Italy’s main data-center hub, with projects also emerging in Piedmont, Puglia and Sardinia. Italy’s Council of Ministers designated data-center programs in Lombardy and Sardinia as projects of national strategic interest on Aug. 4, 2026.

The Lombardy program involves a hyperscale campus with capacity of up to about 400 megawatts. The Sardinia program involves an edge-AI data center with capacity of up to 30 megawatts.

Italy has also introduced a unified authorization process and strategic-national-interest designations intended to accelerate approvals for major data-center projects. The association’s market study is scheduled for presentation in Rome on Oct. 8, 2026.