Puglia, a region of southern Italy located at the ‘heel’ of the peninsula, is seeking to redefine the digital landscape of the Mediterranean with the creation of the Puglia Data Center Valley, a development program that brings together three AI hyperscale data centre projects totalling more than 2 GW of power capacity.
Data centre company Adriatic DC’s plans include the redevelopment of Bari’s former Manifattura Tabacchi industrial area into a 200 MW data centre, the development of a second 500 MW greenfield facility in Brindisi’s industrial area, and the Adriatic DC Hub, a 1.5 GW greenfield campus spanning 2,000 acres. Said hub is set to become the largest data centre complex currently under development in Europe and among the largest in the world, on par with the Stargate campus in the United States.
This initiative arises from an unprecedented global demand for computing power – driven by the rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) – and aims to position Southern Italy at the heart of this epochal transformation.
The overall strategy rests on solid infrastructural foundations. Puglia is the leading Italian region for electricity production from renewable sources, boasts operational international submarine digital backbones, and will soon be connected to the new Italy–Albania energy cable, designed to further strengthen the flow of renewable energy along the Adriatic corridor.
In this context, the Regional Government of Puglia has established an interdepartmental working group on data centres, tasked with effectively coordinating permitting processes, defining technical guidelines, and facilitating dialogue with local authorities, thereby offering operators guidance and a dedicated institutional channel.
“The Puglia Data Center Valley was created to place Southern Italy and Southern Europe at the centre of the new geopolitics of artificial intelligence,” states Lorenzo Avello, CEO of Adriatic DC.
“Global demand for computing power is growing at record rates. Our goal is to build an industrial platform capable of attracting strategic investment to projects with reliable execution timelines, generating skilled employment, and strengthening both European digital sovereignty and national data security.
“Puglia offers industrial land availability, energy networks targeted for major future development by the TSO, global submarine digital links, and a favourable institutional environment – a rare and unique mix in Europe. We are firmly convinced that the south can position itself in the new global chessboard of artificial intelligence.”
The first construction sites are scheduled to break ground by the end of 2026, with an initial investment phase of approximately €2 billion (£1.72 billion) for the first project. However, estimates suggest that, once fully operational, the total investment across the three projects – including direct, indirect, and infrastructure-related components – could exceed €100 billion (£85.88 billion) – an unprecedented level of capital for Southern Italy. The anticipated impacts include thousands of direct and indirect jobs, as well as the creation of new industrial supply chains in the ICT sector, such as AI-as-a-Service and cybersecurity.
In a Europe that must accelerate toward strategic autonomy, digital resilience, and decarbonisation, the Puglia Data Center Valley seeks to position itself as an active platform, ready to engage with stakeholders in the global technological transformation.
