Data Center, Boom of projects in Italy: 342 requests for connection to the network, increase more than 50 times compared to 2021

In France they are in the first places (third after USA and China) by number of “chips ai”, they are also moving in Germany. We hope that things are also moving in Italy, although we already have two super computers in the first 10 seats in the world (6th HPC Eni and 10 ° that of Leonardo), the problem will be the ability to provide all that energy (and it takes a lot, at least until the consolidation of only photonic and/or quantum chips, very far …) but the Italian network seems to hold up.

I don’t understand why everyone in the north though. Among other things, two important dorsals arrive between Puglia and Sicily

With the small advantage that “now” (a few days have been presented capable chips) can also be connected data centers even to 50/100km away as if they were “only”. So it is not necessary to have enormous spaces available as for the USA and China but you can also reuse old abandoned systems.

According to the photograph recorded by Terna, To date, the overall bar marks 55 Gigawatt for a total of 342 instances: a much higher data than the one recorded Last year (when the counter stopped at 31.2 GW) and above all very far from the numbers made between 2019 and 2021 When the requests had barely reached the Gigawatt and then exceed 5 GW in 2023. A strong increase, therefore, in the last two years and which sees the main slice of requests concentrated in northern Italy. Lombardy is playing the lion’s partwhich alone records 210 questions for 30.2 Gigawatt, the bulk of which located on Milan, followed by Piedmont, with 43 practices (9.8 GW), Lazio (27 instances for a total of 4.2 GW) and by Emilia-Romagna with 15 questions corresponding to 2 GW of power in the withdrawal.

In March, as this newspaper always noted, the requests amounted to 40 Gigawatt. In just five months, therefore, the questions increased by 15 Gigawatt.

because of the ongoing technological innovations, and, on the other, estimates that The consumption of data centers at 2030 will be equal to 11 Teramo, equivalent to 3% of the national needs and which will be located mainly in the north of the country. A significant share, therefore, which, writes Terna, “is however in line with the current projections of the other European countries (with the exception of Ireland) and is also considered likely by trade associations.

On the political frontthe government is already working on a solution and the hypothesis under consideration – which should arrive on the table of Palazzo Chigi with one of the first useful legislative vehicles – is that of a unique procedure for the release of the authorizations for the realization and expansion of the infrastructures, as also happens in the rest of Europe. To push for a solution of this type is the Minister of the Environment and Energy Safety, Gilberto Pichetto Fratin, who has commissioned his technicians to prepare a regulatory solution capable of accelerating the development of data centers, essential joints for the digital transition of the country. The recipe identified would be that of a double track, with The Region in charge of issuing the requested authorization in the case of plants with power up to 300 MW, while above this threshold the responsibility would be the head of the Ministry.