The companies describe this as one of the most significant circular economy initiatives applied to digital infrastructure in Italy.

Under the agreement, Equinix will design and manage a system to export thermal energy from its campus in Settimo Milanese, working with customers whose servers generate the heat. The recovered heat will be transferred to a new Energy Centre built by A2A, using four large-scale heat pumps with a combined capacity of 72MW and two thermal storage systems totalling 6,000 cubic metres.

Once fully operational, the project is expected to recover up to 225GWh of thermal energy annually, increasing the heat distributed through A2A’s Milan district heating network by around 20%. The companies said this would be enough to meet the heating needs of more than 21,000 homes and avoid over 345,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. A2A will also expand its district heating network to distribute the recovered heat across a wider area of the city, including landmarks such as the Duomo and Palazzo Reale.

Adaire Fox-Martin, chief executive and president of Equinix, said the partnership shows how “essential digital infrastructure and local sustainability goals can work in service of each other.” Emanuela Grandi, managing director of Equinix Italy, said the project is expected to become one of the largest data centre heat-export initiatives in Europe outside the Nordics.

Renato Mazzoncini, chief executive of A2A, said heat recovery is “a key lever for maximising the value of digital hubs and accelerating the decarbonisation of cities,” adding that the project aligns with investments outlined in the company’s 2035 Plan.

A2A has previously launched heat recovery projects from data centres elsewhere in Lombardy.

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