Milan could add 2 GW of data centre capacity within five years, according to the chief executive of energy company A2A, who says high-voltage connections and new generation will keep the grid on track while waste heat is harnessed for city homes.

Lombardy, which is the region that houses Milan, has over 60 data centres active or in the process of being authorised. In Milan, recent investments include Banco Desio’s €4.5 million funding for a 100 MW data centre south of Milan and Retelit’s €350 million plan for three sites between Milan and Rome. Now, the chief executive of the largest utility in Lombardy, A2A, has claimed that the nation’s financial capital Milan is going to add 2 GW of data centre capacity over the next five years. 

This growth would be a tenfold expansion on current levels. The province of Milan currently hosts about 200 MW of installed data centre capacity, while the city’s peak electricity demand currently stands at 1.5 GW. A2A CEO Renato Mazzoncini was speaking at an event in Milan, covered by Reuters, as was seemingly sanguine about the grid’s ability to absorb such a rapid expansion. 

He reckons the new facilities will be connected to Italy’s high-voltage grid or directly to power plants, avoiding strain on the local distribution network managed by A2A. He added that the energy company already had more than 3 gigawatts of additional thermoelectric power either built, under construction or authorised in the region. 

Mazzoncini also didn’t view Italy’s higher energy prices as an impediment to such development. “The cost of electricity is converging across Europe. A solar panel or wind turbine produces at the same cost in Spain, Italy or Ireland. That’s where the world is heading,” he told Reuters. He also said that operators can also secure power through purchase agreements with utilities.

Speaking at an investor day on 13 October, Mazzoncini said in August 2025 there were 342 requests for connection of high-voltage data centers to Italy’s grid (Terna). In February-August 2025 requests for greater than 15 GW were 60% higher than those submitted in 2019-2023. For 2025 there has been a total 55 GW high-voltage connection requests to Terna with 55% coming from Lombardy. 

Interestingly he said currently the high-voltage connection times estimated by Terna are running at 3 years at least. The nominal energy capacity of data centres in Italy could grow up to almost 4.6 GW if it reaches A2A’s “full potential” scenario with an impact on national electricity consumption up to 13% in 2035. A2A’s trend scenario would otherwise hit 2.3 GW by 2035. 

Mazzoncini is bullish about the prospects for thermal recovery too. He reckons in the full potential scenario, there would be a maximum of 9.5 TWh of thermal energy recoverable from installed DCs. This could meet the thermal needs of up to 800k families , of which ~530k would be in Milan. 

Harnessing heat in Brescia

In June 2025, A2A inaugurated Italy’s first liquid-cooled data centre connected directly to a district heating network, located at its Lamarmora plant in Brescia. Developed with French firm Qarnot, the facility recovers heat from high-performance computing operations at up to 65°C, allowing it to be supplied immediately to the city’s district heating system. Once fully operational, the project will deliver around 16 GWh of clean heat annually – enough to warm approximately 1,350 apartments – while avoiding an estimated 3,500 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.

Brescia’s network already supplies over 180,000 apartments, with more than 80% of its heat derived from non-fossil sources. A2A’s collaboration with Qarnot marked a significant step in integrating data centre waste heat into this system. The project illustrated how urban areas with established district heating can capture residual heat from digital infrastructure to decarbonise heating, reduce reliance on gas, and enhance local energy resilience.

At the time, Mazzoncini said Brescia’s model could be replicated in other cities, including Milan, where waste heat from upcoming data centre developments could supply thermal energy to more than 150,000 homes. 

This article originally appeared on Mobile Europe.