Da Rho a Lacchiarella, 42 data center trasformeranno Milano entro il 2028

Da Rho a Lacchiarella, 42 data center ridisegnano il futuro di Milano entro il 2028. Un corridoio digitale in crescita, tra fabbisogni energetici e sfide infrastrutturali, punta a fare della città un hub europeo.

Big Tech plans to complete 42 data centers across the Milan metropolitan area by 2028, stretching from Rho in the west to Lacchiarella in the south. The expansion follows a precise geographic corridor that already includes active sites in Settimo Milanese and new construction in Peschiera Borromeo and Zibido San Giacomo. While the headline number captures attention, the real transformation lies in the scale of computing power these facilities will host and the infrastructure required to sustain them.

The digital corridor taking shape

The project pipeline distinguishes between:

• announced plans,
• authorized permits, and
• construction sites scheduled for operation by 2028.

The most substantial initiative is the K2 Strategic Infrastructure campus, declared of national strategic interest by the Council of Ministers. Located between Zibido San Giacomo and Lacchiarella, it will deliver up to 400 MW of capacity with an investment estimated at €5.3 billion. This hyperscale development alone represents more than half of the total planned capacity and will create roughly 200 highly specialized direct jobs plus an additional 1,300 permanent positions in the surrounding supply chain. Smaller projects scattered across Rho, Pregnana Milanese, and Cornaredo will add further megawatts to the regional grid.

Power demands and infrastructure challenges

Computing capacity requires electricity, and the numbers are striking. Current data centers in the Milan area already consume about 414 MW, accounting for 68 percent of Italy’s total data center power usage. The upcoming projects could double this figure by 2028, pushing regional demand toward 1.4 GW according to A2A’s strategic plan, up from 800 MW in 2025. A parallel analysis by UIL Milano and Lombardia shows 296 connection requests totaling 47,263.39 MW of power, raising concerns about grid saturation. To accommodate the load, Terna has designed the new “Lacchiarella Ovest” substation, while local municipalities negotiate compensation packages that include:

• job creation,
• public works, and
• heat recovery systems.

Without coordinated planning, the energy surge could strain Lombardy’s industrial sector, which already relies on imports for 16.8 million megawatt-hours of its annual consumption.

From construction sites to European hub

La concentrazione di data center può rafforzare il ruolo di Milano nei servizi cloud e nell’intelligenza artificiale, grazie ai collegamenti internazionali e alla disponibilità di competenze specializzate. La crescita porta però pressioni concrete: consumo d’acqua per il raffreddamento, produzione continua di calore e occupazione di suolo, con possibili effetti sui comuni vicini al Parco Agricolo Sud Milano.

Il raffreddamento a liquido e il recupero del calore possono ridurre alcuni impatti, ma il loro funzionamento dipende dalla presenza di reti di teleriscaldamento e di una domanda compatibile nelle vicinanze. Per valutare i progetti, sarà quindi importante verificare quanta capacità entrerà davvero in servizio entro il 2028 e se rete elettrica, gestione dell’acqua e uso del territorio potranno sostenerla.