Since our update before the summer, Denmark’s new framework for grid access has moved from political agreement into detailed rulemaking. The rules that will determine how scarce grid capacity is allocated – and on what terms – are now being developed. This makes the coming weeks particularly important for our industry.
Grid prioritisation
The Government’s emergency plan for the electricity grid, agreed at the end of June, introduces a new model for prioritising connection applications.
Applications are divided into four categories, with large electricity consumers, including data centers, generally placed in category four. At the same time, the framework introduces two important concepts: grid friendliness and critical societal function.
Grid friendliness will look at factors such as location, load profile, flexibility and the ability to reduce or shift consumption when the grid is under pressure. Critical societal function may, under certain conditions, affect how a project is prioritised. The intention is to have the new framework in place ahead of Energinet’s next major allocation of connection agreements.
Six executive orders now in consultation
The legislation sets the overall direction. The executive orders now in consultation will determine how much of it works in practice.
Six draft executive orders are currently open for consultation, covering areas including prioritisation of grid capacity, flexible connection agreements and direct lines. DDI is preparing an industry response. For our members, two questions are particularly important.
First, how critical societal function will be defined and documented – and under what circumstances digital infrastructure can qualify.
Second, how grid friendliness will actually be assessed. What will count, how will different characteristics be weighted, what documentation will be required, and how much certainty will projects have before making major investment decisions?
These details matter. A good framework can create new routes to capacity for projects that are mature, flexible and able to work with the energy system. A poorly designed framework risks adding another layer of uncertainty to an already difficult connection process.
A national data center strategy
In parallel, the Government has announced work on a national data center strategy, looking at Denmark’s future capacity needs, the role of data centers in the energy system, and broader questions around ownership, financing and digital infrastructure.
DDI is preparing industry input to this process as well.
Our starting point is simple: digital infrastructure, electricity grids and renewable energy cannot be planned in separate tracks.
Denmark’s future need for compute and digital infrastructure also cannot be viewed only through a national lens. AI, cloud and digital services operate across borders, and Denmark should consider the role it wants to play within a wider European and Nordic digital infrastructure.
An opportunity to do things differently
There is no question that Denmark, like many other European markets, faces a real grid capacity challenge. But the current process is also an opportunity to rethink how we connect large electricity consumers.
For years, our industry has argued that a megawatt should not simply be treated as a megawatt. Where a facility is located, how quickly it ramps up, whether its load can be flexible or interruptible, whether it can support the energy system, and whether it represents a mature investment should matter.
We now have an opportunity to turn some of those principles into an actual framework.
The industry has solutions to bring to the table: phased ramp-up, flexible and curtailable load, better siting, waste heat utilisation, grid-supporting capabilities and closer integration between new digital infrastructure and new energy production.
The objective should therefore not simply be to decide who gets access to today's scarce capacity. It should also be to create a system that helps Denmark unlock more capacity, make better use of the grid we already have, and plan ahead for the energy and digital infrastructure we know will be needed.
That is the opportunity we believe Denmark should seize now.
The decisions being made this autumn will shape the conditions for data center investment in Denmark for years to come. DDI will continue to engage closely in the consultations and the national strategy process, and we will keep members updated as the framework develops.
Looking ahead
Over the coming weeks, DDI will be active on several fronts, both behind the scenes in the ongoing policy and regulatory work, and through concrete initiatives such as Nordic Data Center Week. Here, we will bring many of these discussions into a wider forum: how digital and energy infrastructure can be better integrated, the role of data centers in society, and how Denmark can approach the next phase of digital infrastructure development in a way that creates value beyond the individual facility.
We encourage our members to lean into these discussions. This is a moment where the industry should not only respond to new rules, but actively help shape the solutions and demonstrate what our sector can contribute.
As always, please reach out to us with your perspectives, concerns, ideas or concrete examples. The stronger the input we have from across our membership, the stronger our voice will be in the discussions taking place now.
Contact us
Christine Kjær Jacobsen
Head of Marketing & Communication
chja@datacenterindustrien.dk
+45 2975 2932