Norway reins in data centre industry amid AI boom
Statnett paused new connections as Norway plans licensing rules that could favor critical services and require data centers to cover grid costs.
- On Monday, Norwegian grid operator Statnett temporarily halted reservations for new data centres, pending a government licensing scheme to manage the industry's rapid expansion.
- Energy Minister Terje Aasland reported that Statnett received connection applications for 26,000 megawatts of new capacity this year, with data centres accounting for 75% of requests.
- Minister of Digitalisation and Public Governance Torgeir Micaelsen said the new licensing scheme will prioritize facilities serving critical infrastructure, such as health, police, and defense services, over global cloud or cryptocurrency firms.
- "The purpose is to gain more control over the growth of data centres, and ensure that we get the data centres we actually need," Micaelsen told a press conference.
- Norway may require new data centres to pay for grid costs and build their own gas-fired power plants, including carbon capture, to secure future electricity access.
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Norway will suspend further authorizations for electricity connections to data centers while the country assesses how to deal with the overload that these facilities impose on the electricity grid. The measures adopted include a temporary suspension of new connection reserves, informed the operator of the Statnett electric system in a statement released on Monday. The expectation is that the suspension will be closed no later than 1 August 2027.
Norway reins in data centre industry amid AI boom
Norway's government said on Monday it will curb the rapid growth of power-hungry data centres in the Nordic country, becoming the latest nation to limit a buildout driven by the global artificial intelligence industry.
NORWAY suspends the connection of new data centers to the network.
The Norwegian government announced on Monday that it will limit the rapid spread of energy-intensive data centers in the country, as the energy demands of the new facilities are already threatening the security of local power supplies.
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