Italy data center study projects $41.5 billion in investment through 2036
In brief
- Italian Datacenter Association projects €36.9 billion ($41.5 billion) in data center investment through 2036.
- IT capacity stood at 460 MW in 2025; the study expects roughly 2.3 GW by 2031.
- Grid requests run from 60 GW to over 100 GW; only about 1.9 GW reached advanced stages.
- Sector spending reached €7.1 billion of a projected €10.5 billion from 2023 to 2025, per the study.
From 460 megawatts to 2.3 gigawatts
IT capacity in Italy's commercial data centers stood at 460 megawatts in 2025, according to the association's study (as relayed by Crypto Briefing). The association expects that figure to reach roughly 2.3 gigawatts by 2031. That's about five times the 2025 level.
Milan and the surrounding Lombardy region are still the core of the market. Newer projects are appearing in Piedmont, Puglia and Sardinia, and Crypto Briefing largely credited that shift to government initiatives designed to speed up permitting. The study's findings tie €6.8 billion in government-linked program investments to Lombardy and Sardinia.
Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's government has moved to make Italy more attractive for this kind of build-out. Crypto Briefing said its measures include priority treatment for data centers and fast-tracked permits.
The grid is the bottleneck
The power side looks much harder. According to the study's findings, connection requests to Italy's national grid have climbed to somewhere between 60 gigawatts and more than 100 gigawatts, with more than 100 gigawatts of requests recorded across 2025 and 2026 alone. Only about 1.9 gigawatts of that has moved into advanced stages.
That's a wide gap.
Crypto Briefing named grid capacity, energy infrastructure and regulatory hurdles as the things standing between a project announcement and a working facility. Faster permitting helps with the paperwork, but it doesn't add grid capacity.
A 68% track record
The study's own numbers for past projects are a useful check. Between 2023 and 2025, the sector spent €7.1 billion of a projected €10.5 billion, a realization rate of about 68%, according to the study.
Crypto Briefing argued that if the same ratio held for the new forecast, actual investment through 2036 would come in well below the €36.9 billion target. The association's figure is a projection, not a commitment from any company (and the 2023 to 2025 data shows how far announced plans can drift from money actually spent).
What's driving the numbers isn't in question: AI workloads and cloud computing need capacity, and Italy's operators are lining up to supply it. The open question is how much of that pipeline gets connected to the grid.
Frequently asked questions
How much investment is Italy's data center sector projected to attract by 2036?
An Italian Datacenter Association study published on October 8, 2026, and reported by Bloomberg projects €36.9 billion ($41.5 billion) in capital investment in commercial data centers through 2036. The study links the forecast to demand for AI workloads and cloud computing.
Why might Italy's data center investment fall short of the forecast?
From 2023 to 2025, the sector spent €7.1 billion of a projected €10.5 billion, a realization rate of about 68%, according to the study. Crypto Briefing argued that if that ratio held, actual investment through 2036 would come in well below €36.9 billion. It cited grid capacity, energy infrastructure and regulatory hurdles as bottlenecks.
How large is the gap between grid requests and advanced projects in Italy?
According to the study's findings, connection requests to Italy's national grid range from 60 gigawatts to more than 100 gigawatts. Only about 1.9 gigawatts of those requests have moved into advanced stages.
