Summary
- Greenfield and Finsbury Infrastructure are partnering on a 36MW data centre project east of Milan.
- The companies say up to €360m will be invested in the project and local region over three years.
- Greenfield has secured 80MW of power capacity, addressing one of the main early constraints on large European projects.
Greenfield and Finsbury Infrastructure are planning a 36MW data centre east of Milan after securing 80MW of power capacity for the site.
The companies said up to €360m will be invested in the project and local region over the next three years as they enter one of Europe’s fastest-growing secondary data centre markets.
Finsbury said the partnership combines its development capital and data centre expertise with Greenfield’s experience originating and developing infrastructure projects in Italy and elsewhere in Europe.
The secured power position is the most advanced infrastructure milestone disclosed so far. Greenfield says it has obtained 80MW of capacity for a facility currently described as a 36MW data centre.
The companies have not disclosed how that 80MW allocation is divided between IT load, mechanical and electrical overhead, resilience capacity, or potential future expansion. Even with those details outstanding, securing power early removes one of the largest uncertainties facing a large data centre development.
Across major European markets, projects are increasingly competing for transmission and distribution capacity years before construction begins. Available land and customer demand cannot compensate for a connection that remains speculative or whose delivery date sits beyond the commercial timetable for the facility.
The Milan project is intended to serve AI, cloud, and enterprise customers. Those workloads can require markedly different power and cooling configurations, particularly as accelerator deployments push rack densities higher than conventional enterprise and cloud halls.
Neither partner has yet published details of the cooling system, redundancy architecture, water requirements, or expected efficiency metrics. Those design choices will determine how much of the secured electrical capacity can ultimately support productive IT equipment.
The project also extends the development pipeline around Milan and the wider Lombardy region. Northern Italy combines substantial enterprise demand with fibre connectivity into other European markets, but new capacity still depends on substations, network reinforcement, suitable land, planning approval, and construction delivery.
Power therefore increasingly functions as an early development asset rather than a utility matter resolved after land acquisition. A site with a credible connection position is easier to finance, market to customers, and take through detailed engineering than one whose electrical supply remains dependent on later network upgrades.
Finsbury described the development as its first project in Italy. Greenfield already has a wider portfolio of data centre and infrastructure projects in Italy and Switzerland.
The partners have not announced an opening date or detailed construction programme. Their three-year investment horizon provides an indication of expected development activity, but the project still has to move through design, permitting, procurement, construction, and commissioning.
The €360m figure also covers investment in the project and local region rather than a disclosed fixed construction contract. It should therefore not be read as a final build cost for the 36MW facility.
The next milestones will establish how much of the development risk has been removed beyond the power connection. Planning progress, detailed engineering, cooling design, customer commitments, and an energisation timetable will determine whether the secured 80MW can be converted into operating capacity within the proposed investment period.
