An AI Data Centre in the mine shafts of Nuraxi Figus

From coal to artificial intelligence, under the banner of the circular economy. All by exploiting the tunnels and shafts that for years were 'fundamental' for the extraction of the raw material. Now that mining activity has ceased, there is a new direction for the Nuraxi Figus industrial mining site in the Sulcis Iglesiente region, characterised by shafts up to half a kilometre deep and tunnels (in all) some thirty kilometres long. Which passes through technological innovation and artificial intelligence. One of the latest projects, worth around EUR 800 million in investment, is the one that envisages the construction of an AI Data Centre, which will use renewable energies and an already available 100 MW interconnection at Europe's largest mining site. Carrying out the operation will be Energy Vault, a company that has already started the first phase of its gravitational electricity storage system, called 'EV-0', which uses the depths of the mine to store and produce energy as in a hydroelectric pumping plant. "This is a very important project for the conversion of the mine site under the banner of the circular economy," emphasises Francesco Lippi, sole director of Carbosulcis, "because this project envisages the use of self-produced energy, both through the system set up by the partner company and that of Carbosulcis' photovoltaic plant.

The completion of the EV0TM power plant prototype, the company says, is scheduled for 2025, while the complete system will be ready by 2027-2028. 'In this way,' Lippi adds, 'we are charting a new course that enhances, in any case, the mining infrastructure, which has an important cost, and the professionalism that is within. That is not all:

"The modular development system of the AI Data Centre, which will be ready in 2026, will enable an immediate start-up with an initial capacity of 2MW, with progressive increments of 1MW up to a total of 100 MW," Energy Vault says. "This flexible architecture will ensure rapid deployment, stability in connection with the electricity grid and a significant contribution to grid balancing, thanks to Energy Vault's advanced electricity storage platform.

The AI Data Centre, as the promoters emphasise, responds to the growing needs for data security, data sovereignty and clean energy, 'today essential for European development'. The project will leverage the new, recently completed Terabit ultra-fast fibre network in Sardinia, which will provide world-class digital connectivity for high-speed data processing and transmission. "With the support of President Todde and the Region of Sardinia," commented Robert Piconi, chairman and CEO of Energy Vault, "we are taking an important step towards bridging the gap created by the rapid expansion of AI Data Centres and AI-related workloads in the US and European ecosystem. Around the Coal Mine, there are also other projects that aim to exploit the infrastructure that has been built over the years, and which is worth millions of euros, consisting of driveway tunnels, shafts that go up to half a kilometre deep, and a range of other usable structures. Emanuele Cani, the regional councillor for industry, also looks positively on the new project: 'The region's idea is to continue the reconversion of the site by enhancing the infrastructure, and the realisation of this project will be a very important element in achieving this goal.