Data Centers in Florence

Florence – Strategic Digital Resilience in Central Italy

Executive Summary

Florence serves as the vital infrastructure alternative to Milan for organizations requiring a presence in Central Italy. It provides low-latency access to the Tuscan industrial corridor, supporting regional data sovereignty and disaster recovery for manufacturing leaders. This market is the primary choice for enterprises securing resilient colocation outside the northern hubs while maintaining rapid access to Italy’s economic heartland.

Florence: At A Glance

Network & Connectivity Ecosystem

The local network environment is purpose-built to support regional enterprise requirements and high-capacity backhaul to Italy’s larger peering hubs.

Carrier Density & Carrier Neutrality: Carrier count: over 2. The market provides a specialized selection of national and international providers as of September 2025. This ensures competitive transport options and resilient multi-homed configurations for regional businesses.

Direct Cloud On-Ramps: 0, enabling access to 0 cloud regions as of September 2025. While native on-ramps are not physically located in Florence, enterprises access major cloud services via private transport or wavelength services to the Milan hub.

Internet Exchange Points (IXPs): The Tuscany Internet eXchange (TIX) serves as the primary regional peering point. It facilitates efficient traffic exchange and reduces latency for local end-users as of September 2025.

Bare Metal: High-performance dedicated compute is available through specialized providers like Hivelocity and Latitude.sh. These services support workloads requiring raw hardware performance without virtualization overhead as of September 2025.

Power Analysis

Energy costs in Florence reflect the broader Italian market, which is characterized by a significant transition toward sustainable generation.

Average Cost Of Power: Industrial electricity is priced at €0.19–€0.23/kWh as of September 2025. The generation mix consists of roughly 60% fossil fuels and 40% renewables. These rates encourage operators to use advanced cooling technologies to manage operational expenses.

Power Grid Reliability: Regional data center clusters in Sesto Fiorentino and Campi Bisenzio benefit from well-engineered, redundant power delivery. Multi-substation support ensures that facilities maintain high uptime standards for critical digital operations as of September 2025.

Market Access, Business & Tax Climate

Florence is a functional industrial center providing immediate access to some of Italy’s most prominent commercial sectors.

Proximity To Key Business Districts: Data centers are located near the Osmannoro industrial area and the Prato textile district. This proximity allows for direct, low-latency service to manufacturing and fashion leaders as of September 2025.

Regional Market Reach: A facility in Florence effectively serves the Tuscany region and surrounding areas of Central Italy. This allows businesses to reach several million people with sub-10ms latency as of September 2025.

Tax Advantage For Data Centers: Italy provides financial benefits for companies that invest in energy-efficient infrastructure. These incentives lower the capital required for modernizing cooling systems and power distribution units.

Natural Disaster Risk

The environmental risk profile for Florence is categorized as Low (3.0/10) as of September 2025. Standard engineering practices effectively manage the primary regional hazards.

• Earthquake: 7.7 (High). This is the most significant consideration for structural design in the region.
• River Flood: 6.2 (Moderate). Proximity to the Arno river necessitates specific site selection and elevation protocols.
• Drought: 2.8 (Low). Minimal impact on standard data center operations.
• Epidemic: 1.9 (Low). Standard public health risk levels.

Due to its inland position, risks from coastal flooding and tsunamis are not material for Florence as of September 2025. All other natural hazards are considered minor.