Core Stack plans 13 Italian data centers with over €1bn backing

By Amara Osei

Core Stack and Green Arrow Capital plan 13 medium-sized data centers across Italy with more than €1bn ($1.16bn) of backing, while the first two sites target a first-quarter 2028 go-live.

Core Stack, the digital infrastructure business of Gruppo Lazzari, and private equity firm Green Arrow Capital revealed the expanded network, ANSA reported. The joint venture will develop the facilities in industrial areas nationwide, starting in the north and northeast before moving to the country's center-south.

Each new data center will have a renewable energy plant next to it. The joint venture expects that arrangement to let it identify and generate electrical capacity compatible with growing digital demand, linking each facility to dedicated local generation.

The program pairs a national site pipeline with capital above €1bn and a dated first tranche. The disclosure gives the clearest schedule for the two projects near Cremona and Verona.

Takeaway: The network combines 13 distributed facilities with dedicated renewable generation.

What is the first construction timetable?

ANSA said the permit process for two brownfield sites near Cremona and Verona has reached an advanced stage. The joint venture expects construction of those data centers to start at the end of 2027, with a first-quarter 2028 go-live target.

That timetable provides a reference point for the wider rollout. The announcement does not set individual construction or opening dates for the remaining 11 sites or give a completion date for the full 13-center network.

Takeaway: The first two facilities carry the network's only disclosed construction start and operating window.

How will the sites manage power?

Every center in the 13-site network is planned to include an adjacent renewable energy plant that supports operations. The joint venture says this setup should help it identify and generate electrical capacity matched to growing digital demand.

It is also considering battery energy storage systems, or BESS, developed in collaboration with the Polytechnic University of Milan. The systems would be installed to improve the data centers' energy performance.

The announcement gives no BESS capacity, equipment supplier, installation count or commissioning date. It describes storage as an option under consideration, while requiring a renewable energy plant next to every new center.

Takeaway: Renewable generation forms the planned design basis, while battery storage remains under evaluation.

How large was the earlier pipeline?

The 13-center plan follows an announcement earlier in the year that Green Arrow Capital and Core Stack would invest in renewable data centers across Italy. At the time, the joint venture called its pipeline “substantial” and said a significant share of projects was expected to achieve approval for construction in 2026.

That statement covered the earlier pipeline rather than a site-by-site schedule for all 13 centers. The newer disclosure adds two named locations, two advanced permit processes and an end-2027 construction target for the first pair.

Takeaway: The 2026 approval target applies to the previously disclosed pipeline, not a stated approval date for every center.

Where does the capital stand?

Green Arrow Capital identifies GAIF II as its second fund dedicated to energy and digital infrastructure. The fund remains in the fundraising phase, while the joint venture plans more than €1bn of investment in the national network.

Core Stack is Gruppo Lazzari's digital infrastructure business, and Green Arrow Capital is the private equity partner. The stated plan combines local siting, renewable generation at each site and storage technology that the partners are assessing with the Polytechnic University of Milan.

Takeaway: GAIF II is the named second energy-and-digital-infrastructure fund, but its fundraising is incomplete.

What model is the joint venture targeting?

The network aims to establish “a benchmark for a new model of Italian data centers,” the joint venture said. It describes that model as local, sustainable and supported by on-site renewable energy generation.

The network's scale rests on 13 medium-sized sites in industrial areas, each paired with a renewable energy plant. That approach is intended to match new data-center loads with electrical capacity the partners identify and generate alongside each facility.

Takeaway: The proposed model combines geographic distribution with on-site renewable generation.

The announcement also invited readers to examine Italy's and Southern Europe's data-center market and meet regional executives and experts at the DCN Milan event next year.

The disclosed schedule runs from a significant share of pipeline projects expected to secure construction approval in 2026 to first operations at the Cremona and Verona sites in the first quarter of 2028.