Europe · country profile
Data centres and AI in Italy, ranked against Europe and the US
Italy ranks 1st of 24 European countries for most TOP500 supercomputing power (1,450.0 PF, 2026/06); its weakest is 28th of 29 for highest share of people using generative AI (19.9%, 2025). Data centres use about 1.9% of its electricity (Politecnico di Milano Energy & Strategy, 2024, estimate). It hosts 1 EU AI Factory. Sources: Eurostat, Ember, EuroHPC, TOP500, Epoch AI; data as of 2026-10-12.
Updated 12 October 2026 · data build 2026-10-10 · how we know · corrections
Where Italy ranks among 31 European countries
Rank 1 = best on the measure's own terms (cheapest, lowest carbon, highest share, most). Each rank is among the European countries with a figure, so the "of" number differs. Italy is an EU member. Measured
Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · Ember European wholesale prices (via StackPath eu_power_prices) · Ember yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0) · Politecnico di Milano Energy & Strategy, via QualEnergia · Eurostat isoc_eb_ai · Eurostat isoc_ai_iaiu · TOP500, June 2026 list (via eu_compute) · Epoch AI GPU clusters (CC BY 4.0, via global_context) · EuroHPC JU (via eu_ai_factories) · Eurostat Comext DS-045409 · EU EED data-centre dashboard (via eu_dc_capacity) · Terna (TSO) · as of 2026-10-12 · Compiled by StackPath
Italy against the EU-27 average and the US
Same measure, same source family, nearest year. A dash means no comparable figure, not zero. Measured
| Measure | Italy | EU-27 | US | Ireland |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Big-user electricity price | €0.133/kWh H1 20261.2× EU | €0.110/kWh H2 2025 | €0.076/kWh 2025 | €0.165/kWh H1 2026 |
| Grid carbon intensity | 284 g/kWh 20251.3× EU | 211 g/kWh 2025 | 384 g/kWh 2025 | 263 g/kWh 2025 |
| Clean power share | 48.8% 2025−22.2 pts vs EU | 71% 2025 | 43% 2025 | 47.7% 2025 |
| Data centres' share of electricity | 1.9% 2024−1.1 pts vs EU | 3% 2024 | 4.4% 2023 | 23.2% 2025 |
| Businesses using AI | 16.4% 2025−3.5 pts vs EU | 19.9% 2025 | – | 19.6% 2025 |
| People using generative AI | 19.9% 2025−12.8 pts vs EU | 32.7% 2025 | – | 44.9% 2025 |
| Electricity use per person | 5.3 MWh 202514% below EU | 6.2 MWh 2025 | 13.3 MWh 2025 | 6.8 MWh 2025 |
| Supercomputing per million people | 24.6 PF 2026/062.4× EU | 10.2 PF 2026/06 | 20.6 PF 2026/06 | 1.2 PF 2026/06 |
| GPU compute per million people | 140 H100e 2025-0721% below EU | 177 H100e 2025-07 | 3,660 H100e 2025-07 | – |
Source: Eurostat nrg_pc_205, isoc_eb_ai, isoc_ai_iaiu · Ember · EIA via eu_power_prices · LBNL via US DOE (US data-centre share) · Ember Grids for data centres (Europe share) · TOP500 · Epoch AI GPU clusters · World Bank population · as of 2026-10-12 · Compiled by StackPath
Our reading. Per person, Italy has 3.8% of the US level of GPU-cluster compute in Epoch AI's database and 1.2 times the US level of TOP500 supercomputing power. Epoch's database covers only part of the world's AI compute, and private clusters are under-recorded everywhere. Estimate
Power: 49% clean generation, €0.133/kWh for the largest users
Generation mix in 2025 (Ember); big-user prices exclude VAT (Eurostat band IG, 150 GWh a year or more). Measured
Share of generation by source, 2025. Darker bars are fossil. Demand 312.6 TWh; generation 265.8 TWh; net imports 46.9 TWh. Carbon intensity 284 gCO2e/kWh (EU-27: 211; US: 384).
Big-user electricity price, € per kWh excluding VAT, by half-year (band IG). The EU-27 average is published later than country figures.
Wholesale power averaged €138/MWh over 2025-10 to 2026-09 (26th cheapest of 27). Taxes and levies (excluding VAT) were 2.5% of the big-user price in Eurostat's latest year-end comparison.
Source: Ember yearly electricity data (CC BY 4.0) · Eurostat nrg_pc_205 · Ember wholesale prices via eu_power_prices · Compiled by StackPath
Data centres: about 1.9% of Italy's electricity
Electricity share, capacity reported under the EU Energy Efficiency Directive (EED, the EU's data-centre reporting law), grid requests, restrictions and energy rules. Reported
- Share of electricity: 1.9% in 2024 (share of national consumption (Politecnico di Milano Energy & Strategy estimate); Politecnico di Milano Energy & Strategy, via QualEnergia, estimate). Europe as a whole: about 3% (2024, Ember estimate); the US: 4.4% (2023, LBNL estimate).
- Reported to the EU (EED): 132 MW of IT capacity at 42 sites for 2025, of an estimated 178 sites that should report; average PUE (power usage effectiveness: total power ÷ IT power) 1.43. Coverage is partial, so this is a floor.
- Grid requests: 100.0 GW requested (data centres; Terna (TSO)); expected: Terna: 1.5-2 GW by ~2030 (as at 2026-08-31; source).
| Operator | Stage | MW | As at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Terna (TSO) | requested | 100,000 | 2026-08-31 |
| Terna (TSO) | expected | 82,000 | 2026-03-11 |
| Terna (TSO) | contracted | 66,000 | 2025-10-31 |
Grid-queue figures as published; stages (requested, reserved, contracted) are not comparable across operators.
On top of national rules, 7 EU-level rules apply to data centres in every member state (EED reporting, the rating scheme and heat-reuse rules).
Source: Politecnico di Milano Energy & Strategy, via QualEnergia · EU EED data-centre dashboard · Terna (TSO) · Compiled by StackPath
Cloud and capital: €5.5bn pledged by hyperscalers, €0bn with visible building
Hyperscaler pledges (a pledge is not a building), sovereign-cloud offers by jurisdiction, and neocloud (GPU cloud) sites. Reported
| Company | Pledge | Announced | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon (AWS) | more than €1.2bn | 2024-11-29 | unknown |
| Microsoft | €4.3bn | 2024-10-02 | unknown |
2 current pledges worth €5.5bn; €0bn of it is stalled (paused, delayed or cancelled). Horizons and currencies differ.
Source: StackPath eu_pledges (company announcements) · StackPath sovereign_cloud · StackPath eu_neoclouds (filings, company releases) · Compiled by StackPath
Compute: 1 EU AI Factory, 1,450 PF on the TOP500
Public AI Factories (EuroHPC), gigafactory bids, the TOP500 supercomputer list and Epoch AI's database of GPU clusters (in H100-equivalents: compute expressed as a number of Nvidia H100 chips). Measured
- EuroHPC role: AI Factory host.
- TOP500 (2026/06): 18 systems, 1,450 PF combined (7.74% of the list); the largest is HPC7 at Eni S.p.A., ranked 6th in the world.
- GPU clusters (Epoch AI): 8,220 H100e, 0.52% of the world total in Epoch's database (clusters operational by 2025-07). The US holds 1,251,044 H100e in the same data. Estimate
| AI Factory | City | GPUs | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| IT4LIA | Bologna (DAMA Tecnopolo) | not stated | contracted |
Source: EuroHPC JU via eu_ai_factories · TOP500 June 2026 · Epoch AI (CC BY 4.0) · StackPath eu_compute (announced clusters) · Compiled by StackPath
Chips: €3,634m of Chips Act aid approved for 4 projects
Fabs and pilot lines under the EU Chips Act (aid approved is not production), and AI-chip startups headquartered here. Reported
| Project | Company | Aid €m | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Silicon Carbide Campus | STMicroelectronics | 2,000 | under construction |
| Novara advanced packaging plant | Silicon Box | 1,300 | announced |
| SiC substrate plant | STMicroelectronics | 293 | announced |
| Glass photonic chip plant | Ephos | 42 | announced |
| WBG pilot line | CNR (Chips JU) | – | announced |
Source: StackPath eu_chips (Commission decisions, company releases) · StackPath eu_ai_chip_startups · Compiled by StackPath
AI use: 20% of people used generative AI in 2025 (EU: 33%)
Eurostat's surveys of businesses (10+ employees, any AI technology) and of people aged 16–74 (generative AI tools in the last three months), plus AI labs headquartered here. Measured
Share of businesses with 10 or more employees using at least one AI technology (Eurostat isoc_eb_ai; survey years only). Italy: 16.4% in 2025, 19th of 28.
Share of people aged 16–74 who used generative AI tools in the three months before the 2025 survey. There is no comparable official US series.
Source: Eurostat isoc_eb_ai · Eurostat isoc_ai_iaiu · StackPath eu_ai_labs (Epoch AI, company releases) · Compiled by StackPath
Servers: 1.7% of the EU's server imports from outside the EU land in Italy
Customs flows (Eurostat Comext), not machines installed: ports of entry such as the Netherlands count goods that move on. Measured
- Servers (HS 847150) from outside the EU, 2025-08 to 2026-07: €500m, 8th of 27 member states.
- All compute kit (servers, parts, network gear, chips) from outside the EU, last 12 months: €1.97bn (1.9% of the EU total, rank 8); servers up 105% on the previous 12 months.
Source: Eurostat Comext DS-045409 · StackPath eu_hardware_imports · Compiled by StackPath
What our data does not show for Italy
Gaps, not zeros: a missing row means no public figure we could check, or that the series does not cover this country.
- No AI lab or AI-chip startup in our European tables.
Deeper pages and other countries
Each layer has its own page with the full European table.
- The country scorecard (18 largest markets)
- Electricity prices for data centres
- Data-centre capacity and electricity use
- Data-centre grid queues
- Restrictions and moratoriums
- Data-centre energy rules
- Hyperscaler pledges vs builds
- Sovereign cloud
- Neoclouds
- EU AI Factories and gigafactories
- AI compute in Europe
- Chips Act fabs
- AI chip startups
- European AI labs
- Server imports
- The global AI compute race
All 31 country profiles
Our reading. Against Ireland, Italy pays 19% less for big-user power and runs a more carbon-intensive grid (284 vs 263 gCO2e/kWh). Where data centres and AI compute go also depends on grid access, land, fibre, tax and customers, which these measures do not capture. Our reading
Questions people ask
- How much do large electricity users pay in Italy?
- Eurostat's average for users of 150 GWh or more a year in Italy was €0.133/kWh in H1 2026, excluding VAT: 18th cheapest of 26 European countries with a figure. The EU-27 average was €0.110 (H2 2025); US industrial users paid about €0.076 in 2025 (EIA, all industrial users).
- How much electricity do data centres use in Italy?
- About 1.9% in 2024 (Politecnico di Milano Energy & Strategy, via QualEnergia, estimate). Europe as a whole: about 3% (Ember, 2024); the US: 4.4% (LBNL, 2023).
- Does Italy host an EU AI Factory?
- Yes: IT4LIA (EuroHPC JU selections, Dec 2024 to Oct 2025).
- How many people and businesses in Italy use AI?
- 19.9% of people aged 16–74 used generative AI tools in the three months before the 2025 survey (EU-27: 32.7%). 16.4% of businesses with 10 or more employees used at least one AI technology in 2025 (EU-27: 19.9%). Source: Eurostat.
- How does Italy compare with Ireland?
- Big-user power: €0.133 vs Ireland's €0.165/kWh; grid carbon: 284 vs 263 gCO2e/kWh; data centres' share of electricity: 1.9% vs 23.2%; people using generative AI: 19.9% vs 44.9%.