HSCALE has closed its second hyperscale data centre campus in north-west Milan, taking its committed capacity in the area to 250MW.
The Bain Capital-backed company said the two sites in Settimo represent more than €2 billion in planned investment, with both campuses due to be ready for service in 2028. Pre-construction and procurement work is already under way.
The latest acquisition strengthens HSCALE's position in a part of the Milan market that has become one of southern Europe's most sought-after locations for large cloud infrastructure projects. Land and power are constrained, while major hyperscale operators are already expanding in the area.
Both Milan sites are fully owned and have committed power, giving HSCALE a firmer footing in a market where securing suitable land, electricity supply and permits can take considerable time.
The group has centred its Milan build-out on designs intended to support different cooling approaches. Customers will be able to move between air-cooled, direct liquid-cooled and hybrid configurations without major changes to the physical structure.
That flexibility matters as data centre operators and cloud providers face shifting demand from artificial intelligence workloads, which often require liquid cooling, alongside more conventional compute, networking and storage systems that continue to rely on a mix of cooling methods.
Around Milan, the wider investment case for digital infrastructure has improved as the city develops into a connectivity hub. MIX, Italy's largest internet exchange point, has more than 420 connected networks, giving Milan a growing role in European and Mediterranean traffic flows.
The city's rise also reflects a broader shift in the European data centre market. Operators once focused mainly on Frankfurt, London, Amsterdam, Paris and Dublin are increasingly looking to other cities with stronger power prospects and good network access.
HSCALE expects the Milan developments to create jobs during both construction and operations, drawing on local engineering, IT and data centre skills. It also supports the Festival di Villa Arconati, a long-running cultural institution in the wider Milan area.
Energy mix
Nearly half of the power for HSCALE's Milan operations will come from renewable sources, including solar, wind and hydroelectric generation. The company aims to raise that share over time as northern Italy expands grid capacity and renewable generation.
Its energy arrangements in Milan are supported by a partnership with Aquila Clean Energy, giving HSCALE integrated access to cleaner energy supplies rather than relying only on conventional power purchase agreements.
The Milan expansion sits within a wider European pipeline that exceeds 1GW. Alongside campuses in Milan, Barcelona and Oslo, HSCALE has projects in Madrid, Zurich, Frankfurt and Dubai.
Bain Capital backs the business and has about $225 billion in assets under management across its investment platform. That financial backing comes as competition for data centre sites intensifies across Europe, with operators racing to secure scarce power connections in major metropolitan markets.
Chief Executive Oliver Schiebel outlined the engineering approach behind the Milan sites.
"We designed HSCALE's Milan campuses around a simple principle: the building should never be the bottleneck. Our base design is liquid-cooled first, built for the most demanding hyperscale and AI workloads, and can pivot to air-cooled traditional deployments in the same physical structure. No redesign, no additional capex. We design and build like this because we understand the long-term commitments our customers must make," said Schiebel.
Chief Commercial Officer Paul Berry-Selwood linked the investment to local market demand.
"Milan is one of the strongest hyperscale markets in Europe and we are committing around €2 billion to this region because we understand what the market needs and are serious about its growth potential. Our team closed the second site, secured the power and is already progressing through pre-construction, ensuring we deliver real capacity, as fast as possible," said Berry-Selwood.