Aruba has acquired and reactivated a microhydro plant outside Milan, Italy.

The data center firm this week announced that it has reactivated a hydroelectric power plant in the Melegnano area on the Lambro River.

The dam and plant date back to the early 1900s and were decommissioned decades ago by the previous owner.

Aruba said “careful conservative restoration work” on the building saw the revamping of all the electrical, mechanical, and hydraulic systems of the power plant.

The reactivated site is located within the same area where the company already owns another power plant, acquired in 2020.

Aruba now operates eight small hydroelectric sites with an installed power of approximately 10MW. Based on this week’s announcement compared with those previously made, the reactivated dam offers around 800kW of capacity.

In addition to the two in Melegnano on the Lambro River, there are three plants near Ponte San Pietro on the Brembo River, two on the Astico River in Chiuppano and Calvene, and one in Pontebba on the Fella.

The company acquired two hydro sites, with a combined capacity of 2MW, in April 2023. It previously acquired four plants, with a combined 6MW of capacity, in late 2020; at the time it operated one hydro plant.

Aruba’s Bergamo campus outside Milan features three data center buildings. The original 17,600 sqm (189,450 sq ft) building offers 8,000 sqm (86,100 sq ft) of colocation space across 10 data rooms and 12MW of capacity. Buildings B and C offer 9MW and 8MW of capacity across 4,950 sqm (53,280 sq ft) and 5,950 sqm (64,050 sq ft) of colocation space respectively.

As well as solar and hydroelectric, the campus infrastructure features geothermal systems. The campus has a capacity for up to five buildings totaling 60MW and 200,000 sqm (2,152,800 sq ft).

Founded in 1994, Aruba also operates two facilities in Arezzo and has one under development in Rome, with another facility in Ktiš in Czechia/Czech Republic.