In Italy we don’t have a “energy emergency from artificial intelligence”, as in the Stats, Unitim ei data centers are not “enemies of the environment”. The numbers say it: the national electricity requirement, according to the latest forecasts from Terna, the company that manages the electricity distribution network, from 2021 to 2023 only went from 320 TWh (terawatt hours) to 366 TWh and the share of energy used by the digital sector represents a maximum of 0.8%. However, citing a report dated 2022 from the International Energy Agency (IEA), Michele Governatori, head of the oil and gas area of Here you are (the Italian climate think tank) explains that “Compared to its economic value, the energy consumption of the IT sector is proportionally lower. Going towards bits is good for the climate and for energy efficiency. Data centers, for example, avoid travel for meetings and allow the dematerialization of services and activities that would require the use of fuels”.
Looking strictly at electricity consumption, it should be considered that the “net” contribution of the operation of data centers reaches a maximum of 50%, in less efficient systems. The rest of the energy goes into enabled services, such as cloud and AI. “Energy-intensive” therefore in part yes, but also “potential flexibility providers”. According to Governors, the heat pumps inserted in these infrastructures have consumption that can be partially modulated over time. This means being able to smooth the load curve e help align energy demand with the supply of renewablesnot programmable.
Looking for renewables
Data centers would be potential allies of Italian renewables. Rather than identifying with the energy emergency that is so worrying overseas – where some (including the Financial Times) hypothesize that the “disproportionate” consumption of data centers will soon slow down the development of generative AI – in Italy we must learn to “respond to energy demand with decarbonisation policies in line with European standards”. This is stated by the Italian Association of Energy Wholesalers and Traders (Aiget), whose president Leonardo Santi explains: “We don’t foresee a worrying quantitative problem anytime soon: energy efficiency is increasing, economic growth is slower than expected, and contractions in other sectors will offset data center expansion. We have to though increase the share of renewables and have yet to be created conditions to be able to provide it”.
In 2030 we need to reach 239 TWh, starting from 113 in 2021 or slightly more. An increase that is possible for Aiget if within energy management agreement contracts (PPA, power process agreement), with which the producer undertakes to offer renewable energy under certain conditions, risk containment measures are introduced for the counterparty, identifying an institutional entity that carries out the role of seller of last resort. A request already made by the sector and currently on stand-by. Furthermore, for the association you need to unlock the decree on suitable areas to build the systems “despite the landscape and environmental constraints” and simplify the authorization procedures. Finally, plan infrastructural interventions on the network, such as strengthening lines and new stations. At the end of 2023, connection requests from wind, photovoltaic and storage plants reached 400 GW, with an increase of 75 GW in three years That “sharpens them critical issues for the existing network – explains Santi – accumulation systems are needed to relieve it, carrying out the time-shift of enormous amounts of energy: according to Terna 60 TWh by 203017% of total electricity demand”.
Bring data centers here
“We are the third European economic power but we slip down two or three positions when it comes to the digital one: this discrepancy today forces us import IT services from other countries when instead we would have the potential to provide it ourselves, for internal use and for those highly developing countries that cannot count on the stability and security that Italy offers”, says the president of Ida (Italia data center association) and managing director Italy of Equinix, Emmanuel Becker, together with that of transform Italy into a “port of entry and exit of digital traffic for all of Europe and beyond”.
Removed the “huge brake on the cost of energy, the highest in Europe“, according to Becker, the country needs “retain their digital talents and train new ones, creating transversal education chains and not just for engineers. The discrepancy between North and South must also be bridged by investing in distributed digital development hubs And competence center in all cities with a good presence of universities and IT leaders”.
We need to roll up our sleeves, Becker admits this, but he also suggests what to leverage: ours geographic location. “We represent the best outlet on the Mediterranean for the area that today makes the largest digital investments on the planet, with areas experiencing strong acceleration such as India, the Middle East and East Africa – continues -. Italy is truly becoming a country for data centers: the competence center built in Genoa, the GN1 inaugurated in March 2022, attracts new submarine cables, transforming it into a place for exchanging necessary data. Above all, it shows that not only Milan can: many other cities can do it, you just need the desire to get started”.
