Norway halts grid reservations for new data centers

Norway has halted reservations of grid connections for new data centers, a moratorium the system operator Statnett AS expects to lift no later than Aug. 1, 2027.

Projects already connected or already holding grid approval are unaffected, according to Data Center Dynamics. Digitalization Minister Torgeir Micaelsen said: "We want data centers in Norway, but we can't have all types of data centers."

For allocators underwriting Norwegian sites, a connected project or one holding grid approval can be financed against a known interconnection date; one in the capacity queue or among pending requests cannot. That shifts value to capacity already approved and leaves speculative sites waiting on a licensing scheme that does not yet exist.

Statnett counts roughly 800MW of data centers already connected, plus 4.2GW reserved, 9.1GW in the capacity queue and another 18GW requested for connection. The reserved, queued and requested capacity totals 31.3GW—not all of which would be built—against a national peak demand of 25GW.

A licensing scheme under development is expected to favor data centers serving defense, police and emergency services, health services and other critical infrastructure, Data Center Dynamics reports. If adopted as reported, commercial hyperscale load would queue behind emergency, health and financial-system capacity when reservations resume.