Data centres: from timelines to funding – here are Mase’s first operational guidelines
On 27 July, the application form and the technical specifications setting out how the documentation to be submitted should be organised will be made available
Key points
Confirmation of the ten-month duration of the single procedure (as set out in the ‘Bollette’ Decree), as well as the methods for paying the fee for administrative costs. Furthermore, full guidance on submitting applications for projects (pending the online forms, which are due to be published by 30 July). These are the contents of the first operational guidelines published by the Ministry of the Environment and Energy Security, which has provided initial guidance on the new single procedure for granting authorisations for data centre projects (PUCD). Requests for data centres to connect to the national grid have reached – as certified by Terna – 96.28 gigawatts (figure as at 30 June).
Implementation of the Energy Bills Decree
The document, signed by Laura D’Aprile, Head of the Sustainable Development Department, and Federisco Boschi, Head of the Energy Department, contains the initial responses to the questions raised by operators regarding the new authorisation regime provided for, as is well known, by the latest Bollette Decree.
The guidelines first of all clarify the timeframes which, as mentioned, are those already set out in the decree: no more than 10 months from the date on which the required documentation is verified as complete. In addition to this, the halving of the timeframes for environmental impact assessments is confirmed.
Methods of payment for the contribution towards instructors’ fees
The document also sets out the procedures for paying the fee for administrative costs and for submitting the application. Upon submission of the application, the applicant must attach proof of payment of the fees required for the issue of the VIA and the Hague Convention, as well as receipts for payment of the fees set by the competent authorities for the issue of any further permits to be obtained as part of the single procedure. The operational guidelines contain the details the operator must use to pay the fee, which must be made payable to the Central Treasury.
The next junction
By 30 July, the Directorate-General for Environmental Assessments will make available, on the MASE’s environmental assessments and authorisations portal, the form for submitting the application and the technical specifications setting out how the documentation to be submitted should be organised. The document clarifies that an online system for submitting PUCD documentation is ‘currently under development’ and that, on a transitional basis, the application must be submitted either via certified email (PEC) (where the total size of the documentation does not exceed 50 MB) or, if that limit is exceeded, in person on a hard drive or other digital medium.
