Italy

Italy’s data centre market sits at an earlier stage of development than Europe’s established hubs, but it is moving quickly. Connection demand on the transmission grid reached approximately 66 GW by the end of 2025, concentrated overwhelmingly in the north, and the legislative response has gathered conspicuous pace: a national investment-attraction strategy published in November 2025, a unified fast-track authorisation procedure for data centres enacted in 2026, a dedicated regional law in Lombardy, and siting guidance in Apulia designed to draw development southward. Italy does not yet have a national law governing data centres as a distinct category of infrastructure but only stand-alone provisions referring to, among others, the authorisation procedure. What exists instead is an accumulated body of targeted interventions whose common purpose is to close the gap with Europe’s leading markets.

Key contacts

Giorgio Frasca
Partner
[email protected]

Giovanna Zagaria
Partner
[email protected]

Grid connection

Grid architecture and market structure

Italy operates a strict unbundling model. Transmission at high and extra-high voltage is the exclusive responsibility of Terna S.p.A., the Transmission System Operator (“TSO”), which manages the national grid, dispatching, and system balance independently of generation and supply interests. Distribution at medium and low voltage is carried out principally by E-Distribuzione S.p.A., alongside a number of smaller distribution system operators (“DSOs”) responsible for local grid operation, maintenance, the connection of new users, and meter management. The sector is regulated by the Italian Regulatory Authority for Energy, Networks and Environment (“ARERA”), the independent national regulator.

As a consequence of the unbundling framework, data centre sponsors may not own or operate public network infrastructure. Grid connection works (impianto di rete per la connessione) built by a sponsor to connect a data centre to the grid are, as a rule, transferred to and operated by the relevant network operator.

Connection, queue reform, and the geography of capacity

The connection process is the point at which Italy’s institutional ambition meets its physical constraint. Connection to the grid is governed by the Terna Grid Code, which applies, among others, to consumption unit (unità di consumo) with a power capacity of 10 MVA or more. Smaller data centres connect under the technical rules of the relevant DSO.

The standard Terna connection procedure comprises the following stages: (i) submission of a connection request; (ii) issuance by the TSO of a general technical solution (including a connection estimate), which is later replaced by the detailed technical solution; (iii) acceptance of the connection estimate; (iv) execution of a connection agreement covering dedicated works, milestones, and security; and (v) completion of the works, commissioning, and activation of the connection. Overall connection timelines vary considerably, depending on the voltage level, the scale of the connection works (including whether network reinforcement works are needed), the project’s location, and the planning and authorisations procedures applicable to the relevant infrastructure.

Whilst cost allocation depends on the specific rules of the grid operator, as a general rule, data centre sponsors bear the costs – as envisaged under the connection agreement for: (i) submitting the connection request and the technical solution and the review of these documents by the grid operator; (ii) the grid connection works; (iii) the testing and acceptance by the grid operator of the grid connection works.

As of late 2025, there is approximately 66 GW of demand from data centres for connection to the Terna grid, although this figure does not include demand from small scale data centres whose connection procedures are handled by DSOs. Data centre projects are heavily concentrated in the north of Italy, with only 20% of demand coming from the south of Italy and approximately 20 GW in the metropolitan area of Milan alone.

There are no fast-track or priority mechanisms currently envisaged under the Terna Grid Code for particular categories of data centre. The government is, however, currently actively encouraging the installation of data centres and has sought to simplify the authorisation process. Recent legislative reforms have introduced a single authorisation procedure for certain categories of data centres and relevant user connection works (opere di connessione di utenza) regardless of their voltage, helping to coordinate planning, environmental, and sectoral clearances under one unified procedure.

As noted, availability of capacity remains uneven across the country: demand (and, as a result, connection backlogs) is heavily concentrated in northern regions with strong industrial grids and fibre backbones, notably Lombardy. Whilst there are currently no national legislative measures designed to rebalance the geographic allocation of data centres, it is possible that the Italian government will seek to address this imbalance legislatively in the coming years.

Meanwhile, the “Strategy for Attracting Foreign Investment in Data Centers” - published on the website of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy in November 2025 – has promoted the development of data centres in Southern Italy. Regional governments have taken note of that policy signal: the Apulia Region has adopted high-level siting guidance to attract data centre investments, leveraging (among other factors) its logistics capacity, its central Mediterranean location, good connectivity to data networks (including several major submarine cables), low seismicity, and high renewable energy production that can help lower net electricity consumption and emissions.

Flexibility, charging and electricity supply

Large electricity consumers such as data centres are not mandatorily subject to flexibility requirements. Large consumers may, however, voluntarily participate in Terna’s auctions concerning the interruptibility (now instantaneous peak demand response service – servizio di modulazione straordinaria istantanea in aumento) and demand response services, with remuneration defined under ARERA-approved mechanisms.

Usage tariffs for large electricity consumers such as data centres are set periodically by the ARERA through a system that protects the interests of users and consumers and aims to ensure the promotion of competition, the efficiency of public utility services and adequate levels of quality in those services. Connection charges are envisaged for (i) transmission and dispatching services; (ii) distribution service; (iii) metering service; and (iv) the general costs associated with the electricity system (such as research costs, incentives for the use of renewable energy sources, social tariffs for customers in financial difficulty, concessions for high-energy-consumption customers, the decommissioning of nuclear power stations, etc.) or additional network costs (such as equalisation mechanisms and measures to improve service quality).

Data from late 2025 shows that smart meters account for almost all of the total number of meters (approximately 97%). Furthermore, the replacement of first-generation smart meters with second-generation smart meters is under way.

Power access and procurement

Power procurement and corporate PPA structures

In Italy, data centres may procure electricity through a range of contractual structures, including traditional retail supply agreements, physical or sleeved PPAs, virtual PPAs and, subject to the applicable regulatory framework, self-consumption and onsite generation arrangements. Private wire and direct supply structures are also allowed and are most commonly implemented through regulated self-consumption configurations, including systems qualifying as SSPCs (Sistemi Semplici di Produzione e Consumo), where the generation plant and the consumption unit are directly connected and the transfer of electricity is treated as self-supply rather than transmission or distribution activity.

Data centre operators may also develop onsite renewable generation, battery storage, and backup generation facilities, subject to the relevant permitting, environmental, grid connection, and fire-safety requirements. This is increasingly relevant given the rapid growth of data centre electricity demand, grid-connection constraints, and the need to secure stable, competitive, and low-carbon supply. Hybrid and multi-technology arrangements combining offsite PPAs, onsite renewable generation, BESS, and other flexibility solutions are therefore becoming particularly attractive for hyperscale and energy-intensive data centre projects.

Where electricity is supplied through the public grid, ordinary transmission, distribution, dispatching, and general system, charges apply. By contrast, self-consumption and private wire arrangements may benefit from a different tariff treatment, provided that the relevant configuration qualifies under the applicable regulatory framework. In practice, the principal benefit of these arrangements is the ability to reduce overall energy supply costs by decreasing reliance on electricity purchased from the grid and, depending on the applicable regulatory regime, reducing the amount of network tariffs, system charges, and other regulated costs associated with electricity withdrawn from the public grid. In addition, under the Italian Excise Code, electricity produced from renewable energy plants with a capacity exceeding 20 kW and consumed by self-producing undertakings in non-residential premises located on the same production site may benefit from an exemption from electricity excise duties, provided that the producer and the final customer coincide and the electricity is used for non-domestic purposes.

Renewable electricity is increasingly the preferred source of supply for large energy consumers, including data centre operators, as a result of decarbonisation targets, ESG commitments and long-term price stability considerations. The Italian corporate renewable PPA market has grown significantly in recent years, particularly for solar PV projects, and Italy is now regarded as one of the more active PPA markets in Southern Europe. More precisely, in the Italian market, the most common PPA structures adopted by data centre operators are long-term off-site corporate renewable PPAs, predominantly based on solar PV assets and typically implemented through physical or sleeved arrangements. Virtual PPAs are also used, although less frequently than in other jurisdictions. As data centre loads typically require a near-baseload supply profile, operators are increasingly exploring hybrid procurement strategies combining renewable PPAs, onsite generation, battery storage and other flexibility solutions capable of better matching round-the-clock electricity demand. Although liquidity remains generally lower than in more mature European jurisdictions, the number and size of transactions continue to increase, and corporate PPAs are becoming an increasingly common route to market for renewable energy developers and large industrial and digital infrastructure consumers.

Renewable energy certificates

Italy operates within the European guarantees of origin (“GO”) system, administered by the Gestore Servizi Energetici (“GSE”) and the Association of Issuing Bodies (“AIB”). Unlike several other jurisdictions, Italy does not recognise RECs, REGOs, or I-RECs. GOs are interchangeable across the European system.

GOs are decoupled from the physical sale of electricity and may be purchased separately on the market, which is managed, on a national level, by the Gestore dei Mercati Energetici S.p.A. (“GME”). GOs are tradable even on the international exchange platform managed by the AIB and accessible through the Certify Platform. One fundamental exception applies to generation assets that have received public support including the withdrawal of energy by the GSE: in those cases, GOs are issued and simultaneously transferred free of charge to the GSE which made available GOs through public auctions (Aste GO), rather than passing to the producer or being available for bilateral purchase.

For the purposes of issuing and granting GOs, producers must apply to and obtain IGO qualification from the GSE, subject to an assessment carried out by this latter authority. If IGO qualification is requested jointly with the application to receive public support, the GSE communicates the outcome of the assessment within the term of conclusion of the assessment procedure for the public support application.

The IGO status is valid for five years, unless significant modifications are made to the production plant, in which case the status must be updated before the expiry of that period.

Each GO certifies 1 MWh from a qualifying renewable source is tradable for 12 months and can still be cancelled for a total of up to 18 months (no later than 31 March of year n+2). After that date, any GO still held by GO operators will be deemed “expired” and can no longer be used. No GO may be issued more than 12 months after the production period.

Nuclear power procurement

A bill delegating authority to the Italian Government to establish a regulatory framework for “sustainable nuclear energy” is currently under parliamentary consideration. The bill – A.C. 2669, presented by the Government on 17 October 2025 – is intended to enable the adoption of legislative decrees governing, among other things, the development of a national nuclear programme and related aspects. According to the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) materials, the bill was approved by the Chamber of Deputies (Camera dei Deputati) on 4 June 2026 and must still be examined and approved by the Senate before becoming law.

Whilst the bill does not expressly refer to data centres, the development of nuclear generation in Italy could have indirect implications for data centres, particularly in relation to the availability of stable, low-carbon electricity supply for energy-intensive infrastructure.

That said, nuclear energy remains a highly sensitive political and legal issue in Italy, particularly because Italian voters previously rejected nuclear power in dedicated referenda. Therefore, even if the bill is ultimately approved – reportedly within the Government’s target of the end of the legislature (i.e. by the end of 2027) – the matter may be subject to a further referendum.

National strategy, investment incentives, and planning

National strategy, investment policy, tax and subsidies framework

Italy’s policy framework is in active development. In November 2025, the “Strategy for Attracting Foreign Investment in Data Centres” was published on the website of the Ministry of Enterprise and Made in Italy. The strategy aims to strengthen Italy’s role as a European and Mediterranean digital hub, promoting the widespread development of data storage and cloud infrastructure to serve businesses, public administration and citizens. Italy’s strategy on AI and data centres was further delineated by the Minister of Enterprise and Made in Italy in the context of the G7 ministerial meeting on Digital and Technology held in France.

To date, the Italian government has concentrated on providing a clear permitting and localisation framework rather than on a grant and incentive mechanism. In any case, there is growing national awareness that data centres are not only critical infrastructure for the digital transition but could also evolve into new hubs for energy system flexibility (e.g. onsite storage and grid support services). This momentum is visible both at a national level and regionally: recent regional measures such as Lombardy’s new law on data centres and the Apulia guidelines evidence an increasingly coherent policy push across Italy.

Critical infrastructure designation and cybersecurity

Data centre service providers fall within the digital infrastructure sector under the NIS2 framework, as implemented in Italy by Legislative Decree No. 138/2024. Depending on their size, activities and relevance under the applicable criteria, operators may qualify as essential or important entities and thereby become subject to cybersecurity risk-management and incident-notification obligations. The Italian framework is supervised by the Agenzia per la Cybersicurezza Nazionale (“ACN”) - which acts as the national NIS authority and single point of contact - and CSIRT Italy. In addition, where the relevant networks, information systems or IT services support essential State functions or essential services for civil, social or economic activities, and their disruption or misuse could prejudice national security, the operator may fall within the Italian National Cybersecurity Perimeter. Sponsors and operators should therefore assess, at an early stage, both their NIS2 classification and any potential inclusion within the National Cybersecurity Perimeter, and should build ACN-facing cybersecurity governance, incident reporting and compliance procedures into the development and operational planning of the facility.

National security and foreign investment screening

Data centres may fall within Italy’s foreign investment screening regime if the relevant assets or services involve the processing, storage, access to or control of strategic or sensitive data. The assessment will depend on the specific features of the infrastructure, the services provided, and the type of customers or sectors served. In particular, cloud services, cybersecurity, critical technologies, communications infrastructure, or services supporting regulated or sensitive sectors such as finance, healthcare, energy, transport, or public administration may also be relevant. Where applicable, the regime may result in notification obligations.

In case of failure to comply with the notification obligation, the Presidency of the Council of Ministers may apply an administrative fine equal to twice the value of the transaction and, in any case, not less than 1% of revenue.

Data localisation and cross-border data flows

There is no general obligation to localise private-sector data in Italy. Localisation or quasi-localisation requirements arise principally in relation to public-sector cloud migration and sensitive public data, where Italian rules and policy require public administrations to use qualified cloud services and, for the most sensitive categories of public data and services, infrastructure meeting enhanced security and resilience requirements. Outside those specific regimes, cross-border transfers of personal data are governed by the GDPR: transfers outside the European Economic Area require an adequacy decision, appropriate safeguards such as standard contractual clauses, or another valid transfer mechanism, rather than storage in Italy as such. Data centre operators handling personal data flows should ensure that their contractual framework, transfer impact assessments and supplementary measures remain aligned with GDPR requirements and the Italian Data Protection Authority’s enforcement approach.

Land use classification and default consenting route

There is no national land‑use or zoning classification specifically dedicated to data centres which, in any case, are generally considered compatible with the productive/industrial or tertiary land uses, depending on local plans and case‑by‑case assessments. All projects, including data centres, must comply with the hierarchy of national urban planning law, regional and provincial planning documents and the local urban plans which divide into general planning instruments (PRG, PUG, and PSC) and implementation planning instruments (PUA). Compliance with this hierarchy is a condition of planning permission and must be verified in the context of the issuance of the building title for data centre projects.

However, regional initiatives are emerging to provide specific instructions for the localisation of data centres. Lombardy has recently enacted regional law 11/2026 on data centres with the aim of taking a comprehensive approach that goes beyond permitting mechanics alone. This is consistent with Lombardy’s longstanding position as Italy’s leading region by number and capacity of data centre sites.

The law prioritises siting in areas identified by local authorities for urban and territorial regeneration, including brownfields (such as disused or inactive quarries and mines), contaminated sites (including orphan sites), degraded, unused, and underused areas, as well as areas potentially contaminated under applicable legislation. The law also requires proximity and compatibility with existing electrical infrastructure so as to minimise the territorial impact of new connection works. The Municipality has committed to identify abandoned, contaminated, degraded, unused, and underutilised areas within the municipal territory and areas affected by existing data centres, newly constructed data centres, or data centres undergoing expansion, within one year from the enactment of the regional law.

Locating data centres in these priority areas triggers incentive measures (for example, reductions in the construction contribution and priority access to regional funding streams for digital innovation and the digital transition). Conversely, to discourage greenfield development, significantly higher urbanisation charges apply to projects to be installed on agricultural areas.

Moreover, on 22 October 2025, Apulia Region enacted “Guidelines for the localisation and realisation of data centres in the Apulia Region” with the aim of making clearer the existing permitting framework to authorise construction and operation of data centres, as well as providing instructions for the localisation of data centres taking into account possible territorial constraints and the wide presence of “suitable” areas, meaning dismissed industrial areas, brownfield sites, contaminated sites.

National/fast-track consenting pathways

The recent Law-Decree 21/2026, as converted by Law 49/2026, (“Decreto Bollette”) introduced a unified, simplified authorisation procedure for data centres and relevant user connection networks, of any voltage, intended to bundle planning, landscape, environmental and sectoral clearances in a sole authorisation procedure, including EIA/EIA screening and those environmental permits encompassed within the sole environmental authorisation (autorizzazione integrata ambientale). The sole authorisation procedure for data centres has only been recently enacted so is still untested, however, the relevant provisions of the Decreto Bollette set a maximum term of duration of ten months from the conclusion of the preliminary assessment on the completeness of the documentation, extendable for a maximum of three months depending on the complexity and the scale of the project.

Data centre projects carried out on Italian territory with a total value of €1 billion and higher could be declared of strategic national interest pursuant to Law-Decree 104/2023 (converted by Law 136/2023). In such case, the data centre project must be authorised via a single authorisation handled by an extraordinary commissionaire. The single authorisation for strategic interventions replaces any approval, consent, permit, authorisation, however named, necessary for the project, including those from an environmental, health, and fire prevention perspective.

In parallel, since 1 January 2024 Italy has established the single Special Economic Zone for the South (“ZES Unica”) covering Abruzzo, Basilicata, Calabria, Campania, Molise, Apulia, Sicily, and Sardinia (Law Decree 124/2023, as converted by Law 162/2023). Within the ZES Unica, projects are filed through the Sportello Unico Digitale ZES, which exercises the same functions as the Sportello Unico Attività Produttive for productive activities, and are subject to a simplified “single authorisation” pathway issued following a fast track, simplified steering committee convened by the ZES Mission Structure. The single authorisation replaces all other permits and consents otherwise required (including the variation to the urban-planning instrument).

Finally, it should be noted that the Senate is currently considering a draft of a delegated law (legge delega) aimed at introducing an all-encompassing framework for data centres, which would cover, amongst other matters, ATECO classification, security, resilience and recovery, and energy efficiency. Whilst no concrete steps have followed yet, this initiative should be monitored by stakeholders in order to understand how it will interact and combine with the recent legislative reform.

Environmental regulations and sustainability

Environmental impact assessment

The EIA trigger in Italy is not the facility housing the computer equipment itself, but its ancillary infrastructure. In other words, it is the emergency generation fleet that – as a thermal power installation – engages the regime. Data centres whose emergency generators have a thermal power capacity of between 50 and 150 MW are subject to EIA screening, while those exceeding 150 MW are subject to a full EIA. Where a project incorporates renewable generation – an increasingly common configuration – the separate screening and EIA thresholds applicable to such plans must also be applied.

Two further regimes overlay the EIA position. A habitats incidence assessment (Valutazione di incidenza ambientale) is required if the project directly or indirectly affects Natura 2000 areas, and, where the thermal capacity of the emergency power units exceeds 50 MW, the activity falls under the IPPC framework and requires an Integrated Environmental Authorisation (“AIA”). Practice has consolidated quickly. In 2024, the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (“MASE”) adopted Guidelines for Environmental Assessment Procedures of Data Centres, outlining the aspects of projects subject to assessment, the applicable methodologies, and the means of compliance. The guidelines – together with the practical instructions MASE provides through the environmental inquiry procedure (interpelli ambientali), under which operators may submit questions that MASE is required to answer – now constitute the principal practical reference for structuring the environmental workstream, and they should be consulted before the generator and cooling configuration is fixed.

Energy efficiency: PUE and mandatory standards

Italy imposes no mandatory energy efficiency performance standards on data centres: there are no binding maximum thresholds for PUE, WUE, or CUE. Nonetheless, Italy has implemented Article 12 of the recast EED in advance of full transposition, through Article 16 of Decree-Law No. 131 of 2024 (the so-called “Decreto Salva Infrazioni”): a measure adopted precisely to forestall infringement proceedings for missing the transposition deadline. The obligations apply to operators of data centres with an IT power demand of at least 500 kW, who must publish, by 15 May of each year, prescribed information including the facility’s identity, ownership, commissioning date, and municipality; its floor area, installed power, annual inbound and outbound data traffic, and stored and processed data volumes; and its performance against key performance indicators set out in Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2024/1364. Facilities used exclusively for defence or civil protection are excluded, and information protected by commercial or corporate secrecy need not be disclosed. Practical experience remains limited to the establishment of the reporting framework itself.

Energy efficiency does not currently operate as a condition of grid connection or operating licenses. Efficiency is nonetheless assessed indirectly within the permitting process. The MASE guidelines require the EIA to address the project’s energy performance, consumption, and resource use. The AIA includes measures controlling emissions to air, water, and soil that bear on environmental efficiency without setting a sector-specific indicator. All water discharges also require prior authorisation subject to emission limit values, so that water resource availability conditions the cooling design even in the absence of a WUE target. The prudent assumption, in Italy as elsewhere in Europe, is that disclosure will harden into prescription, and that designing to anticipated rather than current standards is cheaper than retrofitting compliance.

Heat recovery and waste heat obligations

There is currently no mandatory obligation under Italian law requiring data centres to supply or utilise waste heat, and the matter has not been comprehensively regulated at national level. However, Lombardy’s regional framework already designates recovery and use of residual heat from data centres, through district heating networks and other efficient applications for the benefit of renewable energy communities and public users, as a priority.

Practical implementation has begun. On 25 June 2025, A2A inaugurated at its Lamarmora plant in Brescia the first Italian project recovering waste heat from a data centre into an urban district heating network, developed in partnership with Qarnot and using liquid-cooled technology to recover thermal energy at temperatures of up to 65°C. The heat is fed into Brescia’s district heating network – among the largest in Europe, comprising more than 684 km of pipelines and serving approximately 22,000 customers – and the project is expected, once fully operational, to satisfy the heating demand of more than 1,350 apartments and to avoid approximately 3,500 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually. The Brescia precedent matters commercially as well as technically: it demonstrates that heat offtake is bankable in the Italian market, and sponsors of northern projects proximate to district heating should assess recovery potential at the design stage, both as a hedge against future regulation, and as a source of local authority goodwill in the consenting process.

Sustainability reporting

Italy has transposed the CSRD, so that in-scope companies report under the ESRS. The Italian decree establishes no additional sector-specific obligations for data centres: the data centre-specific disclosure burden derives instead from the EED, as implemented by the Decreto Salva Infrazioni.

As of June 2026, no greenwashing claims or investigations appear to have been brought against data centre operators or their energy suppliers in Italy. Consistent with the position across the surveyed jurisdictions, that absence should be read as a matter of timing rather than of principle. Environmental claims – particularly unqualified renewable supply chains – should be substantiated to the standard required by the GO framework and the operator’s reporting obligations.

Real estate considerations

Real estate considerations are a key factor influencing the feasibility, timing, and bankability of a data centre project in Italy. Site selection cannot be treated as a stand-alone land acquisition or leasing exercise; it must be assessed together with title to the land, cadastral status, urban planning designation, existing agreements affecting possession or use, easements, rights of way, utility corridors, grid connection land requirements, and the physical ability of the site to host an energy-intensive infrastructure.

In the Italian market, the real estate analysis is focused on the legal availability and development-readiness of the land. This includes verifying, among other things, full and exclusive ownership, continuity of title, absence of mortgages, prejudicial registrations, liens, privileges, pre-emption rights, agrarian rights, and other encumbrances, as well as identifying any existing easements, urban planning agreements, leases, agricultural tenancies, or third-party rights that could affect construction, access, interconnection, or operation of the data centre.

Italy does not currently have a comprehensive national real estate regime specifically dedicated to data centres. Accordingly, the legal analysis must be carried out through the ordinary Italian real estate, planning, environmental, and grid-connection framework, with particular attention to the rules applicable in the relevant Region and municipality. In Lombardy, recent regional guidance and the new regional legislative initiative approved by the Regional Council (Consiglio Regionale) on 26 May 2026 reinforce the importance of brownfield, dismissed, contaminated, degraded, unused, or underused areas, and seek to provide greater certainty on the urban planning treatment of data centres. However, for investment and diligence purposes, the decisive exercise remains a site-by-site review of title, land availability, planning designation, and existing burdens on the property.

Land availability, title, planning designation and operational constraints

The first level of analysis is ownership and legal availability. Italian practice requires a full review of the acquisition deeds, notarial reports, cadastral identification, the twenty-year title chain, continuity of registrations under Article 2650 of the Italian Civil Code, and the absence or presence of mortgages, seizures, prejudicial registrations, real estate liens, tax and agrarian privileges, easements, indivisibility restrictions, pre-emption rights, and other third-party rights. The assessment should extend beyond bare ownership to whether existing servitudes, planning prescriptions, agricultural leases, telecom leases, and prior urban planning agreements could prejudice the construction, development, or operation of the facility: a discipline of particular importance in Italy, where development frequently involves assemblages of several cadastral parcels, historical industrial land, agricultural land, or land already affected by planning conventions or infrastructure rights.

The second is possession and freedom to develop. Existing agricultural leases, even where temporary, must be reviewed to confirm expiry, termination rights, waiver of renewal, or consensual early termination. Existing leases or surface rights granted for telecom or utility infrastructure must be assessed for their compatibility with the planned facility, for any restrictions on buildability or the economic exploitation of adjoining areas, and for any automatic termination or modification rights triggered where authorisations are refused, revoked, or affected by changes in law.

The third is urban planning compatibility, which requires review of the applicable municipal planning instrument – in Lombardy, the territorial government plan (Piano di Governo del Territorio) – its technical implementation rules, and any applicable implementation plans, subdivision plans, single desk procedures, or planning agreements. Under the Lombardy approach, data centres may be treated as compatible with productive and directional uses, so both greenfield sites with compatible zoning and existing buildings or industrial sites capable of conversion may be suitable, provided that the planning rules allow the use, and that any required implementation plan is approved.

Brownfield and former industrial sites may offer significant advantages – location within areas already designated for productive uses, reduced land-use conflict, and alignment with the policy preference for the reuse of developed land that both the Lombardy law and the Apulia guidelines now reward – but they demand enhanced diligence on contamination, remediation obligations, previous planning conventions, existing infrastructure easements, and environmental prescriptions affecting the soil and subsoil.

Electricity grid connection as a real estate issue: land, easements and infrastructure corridors

Grid connection is itself a real estate question in Italy. One feature of Italian practice deserves particular emphasis: the connection agreement is closely linked to land control, and may be signed only after the necessary authorisations have been obtained and ownership or equivalent rights have been secured over the land required for the transmission facilities.

Existing electrical easements require careful assessment. An easement in favour of the network operator is not necessarily incompatible with a data centre, but its wording, location, duration, and operational restrictions may materially affect the development layout, so legal title review should be combined with technical mapping of the easement corridor, clearance requirements, access rights, and limitations on building or excavation. New easements and rights of way should be addressed in the acquisition documents, easement deeds, development agreements, or other land instruments, and should cover installation, access, inspection, maintenance, replacement, and upgrading; for campus-style or phased developments, those rights should be drafted broadly enough to support future capacity increases and additional phases, rather than only the first energisation of the site.

Connectivity, utilities, access and securing property rights

A data centre requires more than legal ownership of a plot. For example, it depends on robust and enforceable rights for road access, internal circulation, construction logistics, fibre routes, electricity corridors, water and drainage networks, cooling infrastructure, and fire safety systems. Those rights matter most where the site forms part of a wider industrial estate, a former development area, a multi-parcel assemblage, or a phased campus.

The deeds of sale, leases, partition deeds, planning agreements, and easement deeds should expressly regulate access, utility corridors, fibre routes, electricity lines, internal roads, maintenance and step-in rights, restrictions on interference by neighbouring owners, and the ability to carry out future upgrades. Where the data centre depends on rights over land it does not own, those rights should be registrable, durable, and binding on successors in title.

Review of the notarial reports, together with the underlying contractual and planning documents, is therefore essential, and should identify urban planning prescriptions, telecom and agricultural leases, existing servitudes, electrical easements, and any prior planning convention connected to a former productive development, each of which may affect legal availability, access, construction sequencing, infrastructure routing, or the delivery timetable. Particular attention should also be paid to agreements that prevent the tenant or occupier from creating passive easements, subletting or granting use rights to third parties. These provisions may be useful where the developer needs to clear the land before construction, but they may also reveal constraints that must be resolved before new utility rights, grid connection rights or access arrangements can be granted. The closing discipline is the one in which this chapter began: in Italy, the property workstream, the planning workstream, and the connection workstream are a single, independent sequence, and the projects that proceed fastest are those that treat them as such from the first day of site identification.