Italy Data Center Construction Market Size and Share
Italy Data Center Construction Market Analysis by Mordor Intelligence
The Italy data center construction market is valued at USD 3.82 billion in 2025 and is on track to reach USD 7.67 billion by 2030, reflecting a 14.82% CAGR. Steady capital inflows from hyperscalers, strong government backing, and Italy’s geographic role as a Mediterranean connectivity node form the foundation of this rapid scale-up. Power connection requests have already eclipsed installed grid capacity, yet sustained investment plans by Terna and a wave of new submarine cable landings keep investor sentiment positive. Microsoft, AWS, Google Cloud, and Oracle continue to anchor fresh builds, while domestic operators such as TIM and Aruba blend local expertise with global best practice to accelerate delivery. Rising sustainability mandates, 5G rollout, and the build-to-lease approach embraced by hyperscalers collectively shape the next phase of the Italy data center construction market.
Key Report Takeaways
- By tier type, Tier 3 led with a 54.3% share of the Italy data center construction market in 2024, while Tier 4 facilities are expanding at a 17.8% CAGR through 2030.
- By data center type, colocation services held a 56.4% share of the Italy data center construction market size in 2024; self-build hyperscaler sites are growing 19.4% annually to 2030.
- By electrical infrastructure, power backup solutions accounted for 53.2% of the Italy data center construction market size in 2024, whereas power distribution solutions post the fastest 18.9% CAGR.
- By mechanical infrastructure, cooling systems captured 48.2% share of the Italy data center construction market size in 2024 and remain essential as servers and storage rise at a 16.4% CAGR.
- Regionally, Northern Italy commanded 62% of 2024 revenue; Sicily is forecast to post the highest 21.3% CAGR on the back of fresh cable landings.
Italy Data Center Construction Market Trends and Insights
Drivers Impact Analysis
Driver | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
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5G rollout accelerating edge and core builds | +2.8% | National, focused on Milan, Turin, Rome | Medium term (2-4 years) |
Surging cloud and hyperscale demand | +3.2% | Northern and Central regions | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
PNRR digital grants | +2.1% | Nationwide, underserved areas prioritized | Medium term (2-4 years) |
Sustainability mandates and green energy sourcing | +1.9% | EU-wide, Italy leading Mediterranean uptake | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
New subsea cable landings | +1.7% | Sicily, Genoa, Mediterranean coast | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
Build-to-lease model | +1.5% | Northern Italy, moving southward | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
Source: Mordor Intelligence
5G rollout accelerating edge and core builds
WindTre’s EUR 485 million purchase of OpNet’s standalone 5G assets unlocked 3,000 base stations serving 75% of Italy’s population, spurring immediate demand for micro-edge sites that reinforce traditional cores. TIM’s 2024-2026 plan maps 16 new data centers that dovetail with this national 5G push,[1]Telecom Italia, “TIM 2024-2026 Plan Accelerates 5G and Cloud,” telecomitalia.com and Phoenix Tower International’s 1,900-site program further underlines the need for low-latency capacity. Because 5G splits workloads between radio, edge, and core, facility planners now prioritize smaller footprints near population clusters, advanced liquid-assisted cooling, and resilient distribution paths to meet stringent latency targets.
Surging cloud and hyperscale demand
Google Cloud, Microsoft, AWS, and Oracle continue to earmark multi-billion-euro budgets for Italian expansion, often in partnership with TIM or other local carriers. The Milan-Turin corridor has become the epicenter, yet secondary cities are quickly absorbing projects as prime sites tighten. Hyperscale investment not only enlarges the Italy data center construction market but also boosts local employment, with University of Turin research projecting 65,000 jobs by 2025 from the Google ecosystem alone.[2]Google Cloud, “Introducing Google Cloud Regions in Milan and Turin,” cloud.google.com Partnerships shorten permitting cycles, ensure compliance with digital-sovereignty rules, and allow carriers to cross-sell edge services.
Government “PNRR” digital grants
Italy’s PNRR allocates EUR 32.5 billion to digital objectives,[3]European Commission, “Recovery and Resilience Facility: Italy Country Factsheet,” europa.eu and cloud-first directives in public administration are creating demand visibility that de-risks private capital. Piano Transizione 5.0 adds EUR 12.7 billion of tax credits to companies that lower energy use by at least 3%, directly supporting efficient builds. Municipal funding envelopes earmark EUR 500 million for cloud enablement in underserved areas, nudging operators to distribute capacity beyond the Milan-Turin core and thereby broadening the Italy data center construction market.
Rising sustainability mandates and green energy sourcing
From September 2024, EU rules require operators to disclose energy KPIs, driving efficiency upgrades and renewable sourcing. Italy’s Energy Decree trims permitting timelines for solar and wind projects that feed data centers, while leaders such as Aruba power entire campuses with hydro and PV. Retelit’s Avalon 3 recovers waste heat for district networks, illustrating how environmental rules spur technical innovation and adjacent revenue streams.
Restraints Impact Analysis
Restraint | (~) % Impact on CAGR Forecast | Geographic Relevance | Impact Timeline |
---|---|---|---|
Grid-power scarcity and volatile prices | -3.1% | Nation-wide, severe in industrial north | Short term (≤ 2 years) |
Specialised labour shortage | -2.2% | Major metropolitan areas | Medium term (2-4 years) |
Seismic-zone engineering costs | -1.8% | Central and Southern seismic belts | Long term (≥ 4 years) |
Limited reclaimed water for cooling | -1.4% | Arid industrial zones | Medium term (2-4 years) |
Source: Mordor Intelligence
Grid-power scarcity and volatile energy prices
Connection requests topped 42 GW in March 2025—almost triple available headroom—forcing operators to queue as long as three years for new feeds. Terna’s EUR 23 billion grid plan will ease congestion but not before late decade. Meanwhile, some hyperscalers buy retired Enel power assets to avoid delays. Rising spot prices complicate budgeting, and construction cost indices have risen 20% since the pandemic, squeezing margins for developers across the Italy data center construction market.
Shortage of specialised data-center construction labour
Italy shares a global shortfall of skilled technicians who understand high-density power, advanced cooling, and seismic design. Temporary booms from the Superbonus scheme distorted the labour pool, leaving fewer qualified crews for Tier 4 builds. Training pipelines exist but need two-plus years to flow, placing upward pressure on delivery timelines and wages and restraining the overall Italy data center construction market.
Segment Analysis
By Tier Type: Tier 4 Drives Premium Reliability
Tier 3 facilities controlled 54.3% of the Italy data center construction market share in 2024 as enterprises sought balanced uptime and cost. Nevertheless Tier 4 sites, required by finance, government, and AI workloads, expand 17.8% each year to 2030. This segment commands higher CAPEX due to dual power paths, concurrent maintainability, and seismic hardening. Vertiv’s CoolLoop Trim Cooler, compliant with impending EU F-GAS rules, cuts cooling energy 70%, making it attractive to Tier 4 builders seeking compliance and savings. Aruba’s IT4 in Rome exemplifies this trend with five duplicate buildings, 30 MW IT load, and renewable power.
Growth momentum also ripples down to Tier 1 and Tier 2 for edge or cost-sensitive projects. Yet as business continuity rises on boardroom agendas, these lower tiers are yielding share to fault-tolerant designs. The Italy data center construction market therefore shows a clear shift toward premium reliability, with operators positioning modular Tier 4 capacity along seismic lines to minimize disruption risk.
Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase
By Data Center Type: Hyperscalers Reshape Construction Patterns
Despite colocation’s 56.4% 2024 base, self-build hyperscaler projects rise 19.4% per year. Microsoft’s EUR 4.3 billion investment in Northern Italy, paired with AI-ready architecture, typifies this pivot. Google Cloud blends self-build and outsource by leasing space from TIM in Milan and Turin, illustrating hybrid forms that optimize speed and compliance. This wave enlarges the Italy data center construction market size for hyperscale to an estimated USD 2.1 billion by 2030, equal to 27% of total value.
Edge and enterprise builds grow moderately but still anchor regional diversification. The build-to-lease model lowers capital-heavy lifting for hyperscalers: Oracle’s Turin region runs inside a TIM campus, meeting uptime and sovereignty goals without direct land ownership. Pension and infrastructure funds are eager landlords, turning predictable 20-year hyperscale leases into bond-like returns, and thereby injecting new capital into the Italy data center construction industry.
By Infrastructure, Electrical Type: Power Distribution Innovation Accelerates
Power backup systems own 53.2% of spending today, a testament to uninterruptible uptime needs. Still, power distribution gear posts the quickest 18.9% CAGR as racks climb from 5-10 kW to 40-50 kW. The Italy data center construction market size for distribution is set to double by 2030, propelled by AI clusters like iGenius’s southern campus featuring 80 Nvidia servers. Terna’s smart-grid upgrades dedicate EUR 3.4 billion to data-center-oriented substations, enabling real-time load management.
Advanced busways, solid-state transformers, and on-site battery energy storage now appear in RFPs as standard. Operators are also pre-wiring for future fuel-cell integration. These investments streamline commissioning timelines while satisfying KPIs set by the EU’s forthcoming sustainability scorecard.
By Mechanical Infrastructure: Cooling Systems Face AI Challenge
Cooling ruled 48.2% of spend in 2024, but servers and storage—climbing 16.4% annually—now dictate mechanical design. Liquid immersion, rear-door heat exchangers, and heat-recovery loops shift facility layouts. Leonardo’s DaTEG system delivers 30% better chip performance at lower wattage, proving advanced thermal management’s ROI. The Italy data center construction market must also adapt cabinet structures for heavier liquid lines and denser gear while ensuring seismic integrity.
Operators capture new revenue by selling recovered heat to district utilities, as Retelit’s Avalon 3 does for 1,250 homes. Such innovations not only align with EU climate targets but also mitigate grid strain by offsetting regional heating demand.
Geography Analysis
Northern Italy remains the epicenter, with Lombardy and Piedmont accounting for roughly 62% of 2024 spend thanks to dense fibre routes, renewables access, and a seasoned supply chain. Milan hosts major campuses from Aruba, Data4, Microsoft, and AWS, while Turin gained momentum after Oracle and Google Cloud established sovereign cloud zones. This cluster effect accelerates lead-times but risks grid-capacity saturation, prompting operators to scout Central and Southern parcels.
Sicily’s Palermo, bolstered by Sparkle’s Sicily Hub and the 240 Tbps BlueMed cable, positions the island as a tri-continent gateway. Genoa adds a second landing point that slashes latency for North Africa and Middle East traffic, enlarging the Italy data center construction market potential along the Ligurian coast. Bologna’s “Data Valley,” centered on the Leonardo supercomputer, attracts HPC-heavy tenants and research consortia, diversifying demand beyond commercial cloud.
Southern regions leverage abundant solar and wind, lower land costs, and PNRR incentives. iGenius’s USD 1 billion project illustrates this pivot, integrating renewable power and AI supercomputing. Yet seismic engineering inflates CAPEX, triggering use of the Sismabonus tax break to recover up to 50% of reinforcement spend. Despite higher upfront outlays, operators value location diversity for disaster recovery and carbon-free energy procurement, broadening the Italy data center construction market footprint.
Competitive Landscape
Competition balances between legacy telcos (TIM, WindTre), pure-play providers (Aruba, Retelit), and hyperscalers with voracious capacity needs. TIM commands the largest domestic footprint through 16 data centers and cloud pacts with Google and Oracle. Aruba differentiates via 100% renewable portfolios, Rating 4 certifications, and heat-recovery pilots, drawing sustainability-focused tenants. Microsoft, AWS, and Google underpin the bulk of greenfield work, often through land-lease or powered-shell partnerships that de-risk local execution.
Private equity and infra funds are amplifying firepower: Bain Capital’s 80% stake in AQ Compute and InfraVia’s 50% purchase of Iliad’s OpCore unlock billions for expansion. Strategic moves include Phoenix Tower’s edge-ready mast acquisition, Vantage Data Centers’ EUR 1.4 billion EMEA allocation, and Terna’s escalated capex to safeguard grid resilience. The Italy data center construction market thus sees rising M&A pace, vendor consolidation, and heavier emphasis on ESG compliance as a competitive differentiator.
Italy Data Center Construction Industry Leaders
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AECOM
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Arup Group Limited
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DPR Construction, Inc.
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Schneider Electric SE
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Fortis Construction, Inc.
- *Disclaimer: Major Players sorted in no particular order

Recent Industry Developments
- January 2025: iGenius confirmed its USD 1 billion southern Italy campus will go live by summer 2025 with 80 Nvidia servers running on renewables.
- February 2025: Stantec won the EUR 3.2 billion design contract for Silicon Box’s semiconductor test facility in Northern Italy, underpinning AI and data center ecosystems.
- March 2025: Terna lifted Q1 2025 grid capex by 16.4% to EUR 562.1 million, earmarking funds for high-capacity data center interconnects.
- May 2025: CyrusOne unveiled plans for a 54 MW Milan site powered entirely by renewables and closed-loop cooling.
- June 2025: Apto announced Italy’s largest campus in Lacchiarella near Milan, investing EUR 3 billion across 228,000 m².
- December 2024: InfraVia closed on 50% of Iliad’s OpCore platform, forming a pan-European hyperscale venture.
- October 2024: Bain Capital bought 80% of AQ Compute to finance sustainable colocation rollouts across Europe, with Italy high on the list.
- August 2024: Retelit launched Italy’s first data-center heat-recovery scheme at Avalon 3, heating 1,250 homes and cutting 3,300 tons of CO₂ annually.
Italy Data Center Construction Market Report Scope
A data center is a physical room, building, or facility that holds IT infrastructure used to construct, run, and provide applications and services and store and manage the data connected with those applications and services. Under data center construction, we are tracking the capital expenditure that was incurred while building the existing data center facilities and also estimating the future capex based on upcoming data center facilities.
The Italy Data Center Construction Market is segmented by Tier Type (Tier 1 and 2, Tier 3, and Tier 4), by Data Center Size (Small, Medium, Large, Massive, and Mega), by Infrastructure (Cooling Infrastructure (Air-based Cooling, Liquid-based Cooling, Evaporative Cooling), Power Infrastructure (UPS Systems, Generators, Power Distribution Unit (PDU), Racks and Cabinets, Servers, Networking Equipment, Physical Security Infrastructure, Design and Consulting Services, and Other Infrastructure), and End User ( IT & Telecommunication, BFSI, Government, Healthcare, and Other End User). The market sizes and forecasts are provided in values of USD for all the above segments.
By Tier Type | Tier 1 and 2 | ||
Tier 3 | |||
Tier 4 | |||
By Data Center Type | Colocation | ||
Self-build Hyperscalers (CSPs) | |||
Enterprise and Edge | |||
By Infrastructure | By Electrical Infrastructure | Power Distribution Solution | |
Power Backup Solutions | |||
By Mechanical Infrastructure | Cooling Systems | ||
Racks and Cabinets | |||
Servers and Storage | |||
Other Mechanical Infrastructure | |||
General Construction | |||
Service - Design and Consulting, Integration, Support and Maintenance |
Tier 1 and 2 |
Tier 3 |
Tier 4 |
Colocation |
Self-build Hyperscalers (CSPs) |
Enterprise and Edge |
By Electrical Infrastructure | Power Distribution Solution |
Power Backup Solutions | |
By Mechanical Infrastructure | Cooling Systems |
Racks and Cabinets | |
Servers and Storage | |
Other Mechanical Infrastructure | |
General Construction | |
Service - Design and Consulting, Integration, Support and Maintenance |
Key Questions Answered in the Report
What is the current Italy Data Center Construction Market size?
The Italy Data Center Construction Market is projected to register a CAGR of 14.82% during the forecast period (2025-2031)
Who are the key players in Italy Data Center Construction Market?
AECOM, Arup Group Limited, Legrand, Daikin Applied and STULZ are the major companies operating in the Italy Data Center Construction Market.
What years does this Italy Data Center Construction Market cover?
The report covers the Italy Data Center Construction Market historical market size for years: 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The report also forecasts the Italy Data Center Construction Market size for years: 2025, 2026, 2027, 2028, 2029, 2030 and 2031.
Page last updated on: June 25, 2025