Statnett announced the decision on Monday 9 November, and the Norwegian government presented a plan for a data centre licensing regime the same day.

What the pause covers

Enerdata and Baxtel, both summarising Statnett’s press release, reported that the pause halts new capacity reservations. Statnett is also suspending the processing of new applications that seek approval of a data centre’s functional properties. Pending applications for facilities that would connect directly to the 420-kilovolt transmission grid are also on hold. Baxtel reported that law firm Wiersholm believes the restriction covers connections of more than 100 megawatts, for which Statnett handles the applications.

Statnett said this is not a general halt on connections. Existing connections remain. Facilities whose functional requirements have already been approved can still connect. Statnett will process applications it has already received for facilities due to start operating soon on the regional grid. It may also assess some applications for smaller facilities if they are due to connect before the pause ends.

Statnett said the pause reduces risks to the power system. During the pause, the company will draw up requirements for data centres on staying connected during faults, the permitted rate of load change and reducing the risk of grid oscillation (Baxtel). The requirements will go out for consultation. The energy regulator RME must approve them before the pause is lifted.

Reuters (via The Economic Times), by contrast, links the pause to the government’s licensing regime: no reservations will be made until the regime is in place. Baxtel reported that the government plans to present the regime’s main principles only in autumn 2027, after the August deadline.

Connection requests exceed the country’s peak demand

Statnett said Norway has about 800 megawatts of data centre capacity connected and 4.2 gigawatts reserved. A further 9.1 gigawatts is in the queue, and requests have been made for another 18 gigawatts. Norway’s peak electricity consumption is just over 25 gigawatts. DCD puts the additional capacity at 31.3 gigawatts in total but notes that not all the projects would be built.

Energy Minister Terje Aasland said Statnett has received connection applications for 26,000 megawatts this year, 75 per cent of them from data centres (Reuters). Norway produces more electricity than it consumes. Reuters reported, however, that forecasts suggest data centres could cause a power deficit and push up prices.

Licensing regime would favour critical services

‘We want data centers in Norway, but we can’t have all types of data centers,’ said Digitalisation Minister Torgeir Micaelsen. Micaelsen said the regime would favour facilities serving defence, the police, emergency preparedness, healthcare, mobile networks and the financial system. Global cloud companies and cryptocurrency firms would have restricted access to land and electricity (Reuters). Capacity, as cited by Baxtel, reported that AI computing for Norwegian, Nordic and European needs would also be considered beneficial. The government said the regime would also cover existing data centres, with transitional arrangements.

The government wants new data centres to pay the grid costs they cause. Data centres may also be required to build their own power generation, such as gas power plants with carbon capture.

Briefs reported that Reynir Johannesson, head of the industry association Norsk Datasenterindustri, said the decision creates uncertainty for investments worth several billion kroner a month.