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Italy has received connection applications for nearly 600 data-centre projects totaling more than 100 gigawatts (GW), Terna CEO Pasqualino Monti said on 14 October 2026. The figure describes requested grid capacity—not 100 GW of data centres under construction—and Terna says many applications exceed the country’s practical ability to build them.
What Terna announced
Speaking at the RCS Academy Green & Net Zero Talk, Terna CEO Pasqualino Monti said the transmission operator had received requests linked to almost 600 data-centre initiatives with a combined capacity above 100 GW. Reuters reported the statement and noted that the requested total was 42 GW in May 2025.
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Monti’s qualification is central to interpreting the headline. He said the connection requests “far exceed the real capacity to implement the projects” and described the challenge as supporting the sector’s growth “efficiently and gradually.” In other words, developers have asked Terna to reserve or study grid connections; those applications still have to mature through planning, financing, permits, construction and energisation.
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Outbyte Driver Updater FREEFix the driver behind crashes, sound loss and screen glitchesFind Drivers →Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Monti also called data centres strategic to Italy’s digital and energy transformation. He linked demand to cloud computing, artificial intelligence, 5G and other digital services, and said Terna’s scenarios already include rising data-centre electricity consumption.
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How the request pipeline grew
Terna’s published milestones show a rapidly expanding queue of applications. Each figure below is a request or application total, not commissioned data-centre capacity.
| Date | Reported request total | What it represents |
|---|---|---|
| End of 2024 | About 30 GW | Data-centre connection requests in Terna’s earlier pipeline |
| 28 February 2025 | 39.62 GW | Figure in Terna’s 2025 Development Plan |
| May 2025 | 42 GW | Total reported by Reuters from Terna information |
| 30 June 2025 | Over 50 GW across more than 300 projects | Terna Lightbox explainer |
| End of January 2026 | Almost 80 GW | Figure in Terna’s 2025 Annual Report |
| 14 October 2026 | More than 100 GW across nearly 600 initiatives | Statement by Terna CEO Pasqualino Monti |
The sequence indicates that proposed demand more than tripled from roughly 30 GW at the end of 2024 to above 100 GW in October 2026. It does not indicate that Italy’s operating data-centre load tripled over the same period; it indicates that the queue of proposed connections grew.
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How many data centres are actually operating?
The application count should not be confused with Italy’s existing estate. Data from the Data Center Observatory at Politecnico University, cited by Reuters, puts the number of operating data centres at about 205. The same source says the Milan area accounts for 68% of Italy’s data-centre power capacity. Reuters also cited 83 projects expected through 2028, with potential investment of up to €25 billion. Those projects are a subset of the much larger connection-request queue and should not be treated as a guarantee that all will be built.
Where are the proposed facilities concentrated?
Northern Italy and Lombardy
Terna’s 2025 Development Plan says requests are concentrated mainly in northern Italy. Milan and surrounding Lombardy are the most important cluster: the observatory’s 68% figure refers to the area’s share of existing Italian data-centre power capacity, not 68% of every future application. The concentration reflects established digital-services demand, network connectivity, industrial land and access to major electricity infrastructure.
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Why location matters to the grid
A large load in one region cannot necessarily be balanced by generation elsewhere without adequate transmission and transformation capacity. Clusters therefore affect which substations, high-voltage lines and local planning processes need reinforcement. A project’s distance from available capacity can be as important as its headline power requirement.
Why 100 GW of requests is difficult to connect
Individual sites are very large loads
Terna says a hyperscale data centre commonly requires 100–200 megawatts (MW) of power. Some applications exceed 500 MW. These are continuous, high-quality loads rather than occasional peaks, so a connection study must examine firm capacity, fault levels, voltage stability, redundancy and the ability to serve the site during network outages.
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Infrastructure and approvals take time
Connecting the pipeline can require new transmission infrastructure or upgrades to existing lines and substations. Developers also need land, construction permits, environmental approvals, equipment and financing. Terna’s planning documents describe a managed connection process, which means an application can be revised, delayed, rejected or withdrawn before any electricity flows.
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Nearly 600 initiatives are not equivalent: some may be early-stage concepts, while others may have advanced technical studies or secured sites. The aggregate number is useful for stress-testing long-term scenarios, but it cannot predict the final number of facilities or their combined operating load.
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Can Italy’s grid handle the demand?
There is no evidence that the entire 100-plus-GW queue can be connected immediately. Monti explicitly said the requests exceed the real capacity to implement the projects. Terna’s response is therefore staged: assess which projects are credible, coordinate connection timing, and invest in the transmission and substation upgrades needed for projects that mature.
That approach does not mean Italy will reject data centres. It means energisation will depend on regional grid capacity, permitting schedules and project readiness rather than on the order in which applications arrived. Terna says its scenarios already account for higher data-centre consumption, giving planners a basis for deciding where reinforcement is justified and how quickly it can be delivered.
What to watch next
- Whether applicants progress from connection requests to accepted technical solutions and binding agreements.
- Which northern Italian substations and transmission corridors receive investment approvals.
- How many of the announced projects secure permits, financing and land.
- Whether demand is distributed beyond the Milan and Lombardy cluster or remains heavily concentrated there.
- Terna’s future updates on realised connections and actual electricity consumption, which will be more meaningful than the application total alone.
Italy’s 100-GW headline is therefore best read as a measure of developer interest and a planning challenge. It signals potentially major growth in digital infrastructure, while the number of facilities ultimately built will be much smaller than the raw queue unless projects pass the technical, commercial and regulatory tests required for connection.
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