Echelon announces new €3bn Milan data centre site

Author: Joe Peck

Echelon, a developer and operator of large-scale data centre infrastructure, has partnered with controlled affiliates of Starwood Capital Group to acquire a 37-acre site with grid power near Milan.

Echelon says this investment marks the next step of its expansion into Continental Europe and follows the announcement of a €2 billion (£1.74 billion) joint venture (JV) with Spanish energy company Iberdrola to develop data centres in Spain.

Development will begin immediately to create one of Italy’s largest data centre campuses. The site has electrical capacity of 250MVA gross power – 100MVA of which is available immediately through the existing onsite substation.

Up to €3 billion (£2.6 billion) will be invested in the development of the LIN10 data centre campus.

Industry comments

Niall Molloy, CEO of Echelon, says, “Echelon is very pleased to partner with Starwood Capital to enter this new market. LIN10 has in place grid power, scale, and flexibility, which makes it one of the most attractive projects in Europe.

“It is ready to build and offers exceptional opportunities for hyperscale operators. We expect to start construction imminently and have the facility operational in 18 to 24 months. Everyone at Echelon is delighted to have secured our first development site in continental Europe.”

David Smith, Chief Investment Officer at Echelon, comments, “Entering the Italian market is another significant milestone on Echelon’s growth trajectory, and we are delighted to have made this strategic step.

“We have a strong pipeline of exciting opportunities across Europe and expect to add additional markets over the next 24 months to continue to support the growth of our customers.”

Maximilian Gentile, Senior Vice President at Starwood Capital, adds, “We believe in the fundamental growth drivers of the Milan data centre market.

“Demand for data centre capacity continues to grow exponentially globally and this investment demonstrates Echelon’s commitment to delivering power and scale to help customers meet the requirements of an increasingly AI-driven digital economy.”

Echelon currently has seven data centre facilities either operational or in development across Ireland, the United Kingdom, and Spain, with a combined capacity of approximately 1.25GW.

The acquisition of LIN10 forms part of the company’s growth plans to develop an additional 1.5GW of capacity across new locations over the next five years.

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