A data center built inside an active mine in the Dolomites, in northeast Italy, has officially launched.The Intacture data center is located 100 meters (328 feet) underground in the Tuenetto di Predaia quarry, in the Val di Non, next to rooms that have been used for decades to store apples, sparkling wine, and cheese.The €50 million ($58m) project was developed by Trentino DataMine, a public-private partnership between the University of Trento and local businesses established in September 2023. Trentino DataMine said Intacture is the first center built inside an active mine in Europe.The facility has a capacity of 6MW, doesn’t use water, and is powered by 100 percent renewable energy, Trentino DataMine said.More than 80 percent of the data center was built underground to reduce its surface footprint.Construction involved extracting 63,000 sqm (678,125 sq ft) of rock, excavating 15km (9.3 miles) of tunnels, and building a vertical shaft known as a “fornello,” which connects the operational tunnels to the surface.The project was completed in just over two years.More than €18m ($21m) of Trentino DataMine’s total investment came from the National Recovery and Resilience Plan’s (PNRR, by its Italian acronym) education and research initiative.“Italy has everything it takes to establish itself as a Mediterranean hub for data and computing power, thanks to its strategic location, digital infrastructure and a dynamic and competitive industrial ecosystem,” Adolfo Urso, Minister for Enterprise and Made in Italy, was quoted as saying during the launch.“Today, Intacture is leading the way: sustainable innovation rooted in local communities, capable of generating development, skilled employment and new opportunities for future generations.”Underground data centers are gaining traction in Europe because of the additional security and reduced environmental impact they offer.Belgian IT services provider Cegeka announced last year an initial €40m ($46.9m) investment to build a subterranean data center in Belgian Limburg.Learn more about the data center market in Italy and Southern Europe, and meet with other executives and experts from the region at the DCN Milan event next year