Norway reins in data centre industry amid AI boom
Statnett paused new hookups as Norway weighs licensing rules that would favor critical infrastructure and limit global cloud and cryptocurrency projects.
- 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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In the wake of the surge in electricity consumption caused by data centres, Norway announced on Monday, 9 November, in the wake of Denmark and Finland, restrictions on the establishment of these huge infrastructures.
The Nordic country, which produces more energy than it consumes, fears the weight that the planned data centres will create in the electricity grid, even estimating a shot that will cause the demand to exceed the supply.
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.
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