TRENTO, Italy, Oct. 15, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ALPS, an Italian scale-up that designs, builds and operates data centers, has appointed Brian Turnbow as Technical Director for AI, a role created to drive the company's technical expansion into artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC). The appointment pairs ALPS's data center expertise with an energy-to-compute approach aimed at harnessing renewable energy sources and reusing existing assets to develop more sustainable compute infrastructure.

Founded in Trentino in 2018 and now operating across four continents, ALPS has built its business on data centers that are integrated with energy systems. The company is now applying that know-how to AI and HPC workloads.

Access to power has become one of the main constraints on AI infrastructure development; grid connection requests reflect prospective demand for capacity rather than power already in service. According to Terna data as of 31 August 2026, data center grid connection requests in Italy totalled more than 100 GW, up from around 30 GW at the end of 2024 — a rise that makes site selection and grid connection lead times critical to project planning.

ALPS's energy-to-compute approach rests on 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 aims to integrate renewable energy sources and redevelop disused industrial sites, reusing existing grid connections, buildings and other assets wherever technically feasible. The goal is to build more sustainable compute infrastructure that draws on local resources while, 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, working with Italian engineering and industrial companies and drawing on their expertise in projects abroad as well. Given the model's dependence on existing grid connections and buildings, the sites identified for redevelopment and the partners brought on board will be the first practical markers of how the strategy takes shape.

“Italy and Europe have energy resources, industrial assets and technical expertise we can harness,” says 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.

“AI infrastructure starts well before GPU deployment,” says Brian 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, 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.

For more information: www.alps.it

SOURCE ALPS