May 18, 2026 | Posted by Mike Bavto
Norwegian renewables and data center developer Magnora ASA has secured land for a new 30 MW data center project in the Milan area, the company announced on Monday. The wholly owned project is Magnora's second in Italy and brings its data center development portfolio to 585 MW gross and 460 MW net.
The site
The project sits on industrial-zoned land in the Milan metropolitan area. Magnora has signed a land exclusivity agreement and confirmed local municipal support, but has not yet disclosed the specific municipality or parcel. The development is held entirely through Magnora's Italian subsidiary, Magnora Italy Srl, with no co-developer or JV partner on the cap table.
Power and connectivity
Magnora has submitted a grid connection application and points to strong existing electrical infrastructure surrounding the site. The company is leaning on Milan's fiber density and its position as a southern European transit hub as the commercial case, framing the location as a natural bridge between northern European hubs and Mediterranean traffic.
The Italy thesis
This is Magnora's second Italian data center after entering the market earlier in its growth push. The Oslo-listed developer (OSE: MGN) has been moving fast across Europe and the Nordics: a 100 MW project at Averøya, Norway announced in February, a 120 MW majority stake in Hämeenlinna, Finland, and continued expansion that pushed the group's total project portfolio past 10 GW across data centers and renewables in Q1 2026.
"Italy is a highly interesting DC market, and Milan is considered one of the strongest candidates as an upcoming Tier-1 hub, given the current power and regulatory constraints facing other major European data center hubs."
— Erik Sneve, CEO, Magnora ASA
The Milan backdrop
Milan is the deepest data center market in Italy and the only one tracked by most operators as Tier-1 adjacent. Hyperscale and wholesale capacity in the metro has expanded sharply over the past 24 months: Microsoft is building in Bornasco, Vantage is on its second Milan campus, and Digital Realty just acquired land in Abbiategrasso for an 8 MW first phase scaling to 84 MW. Baxtel tracks dozens of operational and planned facilities in the Milan region, with most new entrants targeting the suburban ring south and west of the city where industrial land and grid capacity are still available.
Magnora's board reset
The Milan announcement lands a week after Magnora's annual general meeting installed a new tech-focused board on May 12, a move tied to the company's planned IPO spinout of its data center business. Magnora also launched a private placement earlier this year to fund the data center push ahead of that listing.
Why it matters
Milan is rapidly becoming the relief valve for an EU data center market where Frankfurt, Amsterdam, and Dublin are out of power, out of permits, or both. The fact that a Norwegian renewables developer with no Italian operating history can secure 30 MW of industrial land and municipal support says more about the FLAP-D bottleneck than it does about Magnora. Expect more land-banking by Nordic and northern European developers in Lombardy over the next 12 months, and expect the gap between "land secured" and "grid energized" to be the number that actually matters.