Italy's Lombardy to revise data centre law next week after application surge

By Giancarlo Navach

MILAN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Just four months after approving legislation to regulate a surge in demand for data centres, Lombardy, Italy's most populous region and home to Milan, is preparing to tighten the rules in response to growing public concern over the pace and scale of new developments.

• Amendments to the law, approved in June, are due to be presented to the regional government on October 19 and could be approved by the regional council within about a month, regional councillor Massimo Sertori told Reuters.

• "We will push to use as little agricultural land as possible and will seek to further discourage the use of farmland. Instead, projects should be developed on disused industrial sites, using innovative water-management systems to reduce water consumption," Sertori said.

• The current legislation already gives priority to brownfield sites, including abandoned industrial areas, and strongly discourages projects on agricultural land or undeveloped greenfield sites.

• Under the existing rules, developments on agricultural land face construction charges that are 100% higher, while projects in parks or environmentally sensitive areas are subject to fees that are 200% higher.

• "We will also push to ensure that the energy used to power data centres comes from renewable sources," Sertori said.

• Since the law came into force, Lombardy has received more than 60 applications for data-centre projects, representing a combined proposed capacity of about 11 gigawatts (GW).

• Regional estimates indicate that 11 GW of data-centre capacity would consume about 90 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually, compared with Lombardy's current yearly electricity demand of around 65 TWh.

• By comparison, Italy is expected to add around 2.5-3 GW of new data-centre capacity by 2030, with Lombardy accounting for between 1.5 GW and 2 GW over the next five years, according to the latest industry estimates.

"It is clear that this is not sustainable. That is why the law needs to be revised," Sertori said.

• Public opposition to data-centre developments has intensified in recent months.

• On October 3, residents in the town of Rho, near Milan, staged a protest against plans to build three data centres on a site covering about 3 square kilometres.

(Reporting by Giancarlo NavachEditing by Keith Weir)