ALPS, an Italian data center scale-up, has appointed Brian Turnbow as Technical Director for AI, tasking him with leading the company's technical expansion into artificial intelligence and high-performance computing. The move rests on an energy-to-compute approach that seeks to harness renewable energy sources and reuse existing assets to build more sustainable compute infrastructure.

The announcement was made on Oct. 15, 2026, in Trento. Founded in Trentino in 2018 and operating across four continents, ALPS designs, builds, and operates data centers integrated with energy systems, and is now applying that expertise to AI and HPC workloads.

Power availability has become one of the main constraints on AI infrastructure development. According to Terna, Italy's national electricity transmission system operator, data center grid connection requests in Italy totalled more than 100 GW as of 31 August 2026, up from around 30 GW at the end of 2024. That surge makes site selection and grid connection lead times critical factors in project planning.

Against that backdrop, ALPS's energy-to-compute strategy reflects a deliberate choice: locating data centers where energy is already available, including outside major hubs, to reduce reliance on congested areas of the grid. The company plans to integrate renewable energy sources and redevelop disused industrial sites, reusing existing grid connections, buildings, and other assets wherever technically feasible — a relevant consideration in a market where new connection requests already exceed 100 GW. The goal is to develop more sustainable compute infrastructure by drawing on local resources and, through asset reuse, limiting land take and reducing the need for new construction. This expansion complements ALPS's ongoing mining operations, which continue in line with its business plan.

In his new role, Turnbow will lead ALPS's AI/HPC technical strategy, from assessing architectures and sites to engaging with technology and industrial partners. Italy will be a priority market. ALPS intends to bring its international expertise back to Italy and collaborate with Italian engineering and industrial companies, drawing on their expertise in projects abroad as well. The announcement did not specify individual sites or timelines, so Turnbow's initial architecture and site assessments will be the first tangible indicators of how the strategy takes shape.

"Italy and Europe have energy resources, industrial assets and technical expertise we can harness," said Francesco Buffa, CEO and co-founder of ALPS. "Through our energy-to-compute approach, we want to turn the energy and industrial potential of the regions in which we operate into a competitive advantage and help narrow Europe's AI gap."

Turnbow brings more than 25 years of experience in telecommunications and digital infrastructure, having held technical roles at TWT, Unidata, and CDLAN. He also serves on the board of ITNOG, the Italian Network Operators Group, a community organization for the country's networking professionals.

"AI infrastructure starts well before GPU deployment," said Turnbow. "Every project must start with the workloads it needs to support and clients' requirements, not just the available power. My goal is to translate these requirements into coherent design decisions, building flexible, scalable and sustainable computing capacity while making use of renewable energy sources and existing assets."

About ALPS

ALPS designs, builds and operates data centers for energy- and compute-intensive applications, combining energy expertise with data center engineering and operations. Its international growth has been supported by Azimut through a €40 million transaction in 2023 and a €105 million club deal in 2024.

More information is available at www.alps.it.

Source: ALPS