Italy's Lombardy Region: 200% Tax on Data Centers Built on Green Spaces and Farmland

Italy's Lombardy region has approved legislation that sharply raises construction costs in order to regulate the unchecked expansion of data centers and manage their environmental and energy impact. This is the first case in Italy of a law being passed to curb data center construction.

The key regulatory details are as follows:

• Construction on rural areas incurs an additional 100% cost on top of the existing amount
• Construction on parks and green areas incurs an additional 200% cost on top of the existing amount

The measure aims to minimize the environmental impact of data centers by encouraging the reuse of disused industrial areas instead of green spaces. Using industrial areas comes with the benefit of simplified administrative procedures instead of the additional burden.

Lombardy is a key region where 63% of all data center applications in Italy are concentrated. Currently, 33 data centers are operating near Milan, with an additional 10 under construction and 23 under review. Major companies such as Amazon, Aruba, Eni, and Stack Emea are investing in the region, and this legislation is expected to become an important variable in future AI infrastructure construction costs and site selection.