In order to catch up with international competitors, over the past year the European Commission adopted the “AI Continent Action Plan” (Communication COM (2025) 165), identifying the main barriers and obstacles that Member States must address in order to foster the development of AI Factories across Europe.
Against this backdrop, in the wake of European initiatives and the recent strategy published by the Italian Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy (MIMIT) on 5 November to attract industrial investment in Data Centers (“DCs”) to Italy, the past few weeks have seen significant developments for the future deployment of such infrastructure across the country.
In particular, reference is made to the recent conversion into law of Decree-Law No. 21 of 20 February 2026 (the so-called “DL Bollette”) (Law No. 49 of 19 April 2026 published in Official Gazette No. 90 of 18 April 2026 – the “Conversion Law”), which has reshaped the key permitting framework governing the construction and operation of DCs.
In this analysis – which was previewed in Quotidiano Energia on 28 April (https://www.quotidianoenergia.it/module/news/page/entry/id/531283) – we focus on the potential operational implications arising from the Conversion Law with respect to the development of DCs.
The single authorisation procedure for DCs
Specifically, in order to streamline administrative procedures relating to the issuance of permits necessary for the operation of DCs, Article 8 of the Conversion Law introduces a single authorisation procedure.
Following the simplification measures adopted in recent years for renewable energy plants, a form of single authorisation or PAUR (Regional Single Authorisation Measure) is now also envisaged for DCs, aimed at streamlining and speeding up the process for obtaining all permits and authorisations required for the construction and operation of such projects.
In particular, pursuant to the provisions of Article 8 of the Conversion Law:
authorisation for both the construction and expansion of DCs and their connected user networks (regardless of voltage) shall be granted as part of a single authorisation procedure by the authority responsible for issuing the integrated environmental authorisation. Consequently, for DCs with a capacity of up to 300 MW, the competent authority is the relevant Region (or delegated Province), whereas for higher capacities the competent authority is the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security (MASE);
in accordance with the principle of suitability, in case of procedures falling within the competence of the Region or the Province, the role of competent authority may not be further delegated or assigned to other sub-provincial bodies;
the application for single authorisation must include all the documentation and design drawings required under applicable sector legislation for the issue of authorisations, agreements, licences, opinions, approvals, clearances and consents, including, where necessary, those relating to integrated environmental authorisation, environmental impact assessment, landscape or cultural heritage clearance, water use and air emissions permits, including verification of compliance with municipal planning regulations;
the single authorisation shall be issued following a formal “conference of services” and the relevant procedure must be completed within ten months from verification of the completeness of the documentation attached to the application. Extensions are allowed only under exceptional circumstances and for a maximum period of three months;
if the project is subject to an EIA screening and a full EIA is required, the relevant application must be submitted within a strict deadline of 90 days, after which the application is deemed withdrawn and the procedure closed;
for DC projects declared by the Council of Ministers to be of overriding national strategic interest (and therefore having a total value of not less than one billion Euros), the relevant single authorisation is issued by a special government commissioner in accordance with the provisions of Decree-Law 104/2023;
for DCs that, on the date of entry into force of the Decree, have already obtained the necessary permits (including environmental approvals) for the implementation of the initiative but not yet the authorisation for grid connection works, such authorisation must be issued by the competent Region. This applies only to grid works above 220 kV, excluding lower-voltage infrastructure.
Preliminary considerations and future outlook
As expected, the Conversion Law contains a number of open issues that will need to be clarified during the subsequent stages of its implementation and, above all, in the course of its practical application by the public authorities involved.
First of all, it should be noted that the application for the authorisation must include, inter alia, verification of the project’s compliance with municipal planning regulations.
Therefore, unlike the framework applicable to the renewable energy sector, it would appear that the relevant “single authorisation” cannot, where necessary, constitute a variation to the applicable planning instruments.
This circumstance, even in the absence of national legislation on suitable areas (as is the case for renewables), leaves local authorities with a considerable margin of discretion.
In practice, a preliminary analysis of municipal land-use plans and the relevant technical implementing provisions will therefore be crucial in order to verify the absence of zoning constraints or urban planning parameters that may hinder the development of DCs.
Furthermore, except for projects already authorised and requiring permits for grid connection works with a voltage exceeding 220 kV, no transitional provisions or grandfathering clauses are provided for projects already underway or in the start-up phase. As a result, the so-called “tempus regit actum” principle should apply, potentially giving rise to significant coordination and jurisdictional issues among the various competent authorities.
Moreover, unlike the approach outlined in the recent MIMIT’s strategy, there are no concrete references to any incentive schemes or attraction mechanisms aimed at effectively promoting the development of DCs, which appear more appropriate than ever in light of the significant increase in energy demand expected in the coming years (e.g., through the formal recognition of DCs as “energy-intensive users”, subject on the one hand to “green conditionalities”, but on the other benefiting from reductions in system charges and, more generally, in energy prices).
DCs represent a crucial hub for the country’s effective digital transition and, while sector operators are willing to bear traditional market risks, they are far less willing to assume risks typically associated with the discretion of public authorities.
From this perspective, the Conversion Law represents a first, albeit modest, step towards enhancing the role of DCs within the national landscape. However, a genuine shift in paradigm will require the prompt adoption of supplementary and corrective provisions or, at the very least, implementing measures.
This would help mitigating the same obstacles and uncertainties that have characterised, in recent years, the development of other strategic infrastructures (notably renewable projects), for which “single authorisation procedures” have in recent years often been perceived by market players not as an incentive but rather as a barrier to investment. This is also evidenced by the legislator’s progressive expansion of simplified regimes, such as the “free activity” scheme and the PAS (Simplified Authorisation Procedure).
Last but not least, due consideration must also be given to issues relating to the optimisation of the electricity grid.
While the Conversion Law on the one hand introduces significant changes to the current national framework governing grid connection with regard to feed-in aspects (i.e. generation plants), on the other hand it does not address with the same level of detail consumption units (including DCs) and their future electricity withdrawals from the national grid.
In this respect, Terna’s grid code still presents several grey areas, without clarifying whether the comprehensive regulatory framework developed in recent years for generation plants may be applied by analogy to consumption units, and, if so, within what limits.
Yet, as mentioned, connection requests are increasing at a much faster pace than actual demand and are highly concentrated in specific market zones. As a result, it cannot be ruled out that the current grid architecture may face saturation issues, with potential negative impacts on the connection of new DCs and significant delays to ongoing investments.
