Published 2026-09-12 · Event 2026-06-23

Nordic TSOs: connection requests already exceed existing and planned grid capacity

On 23 June 2026 Statnett published a joint note from Fingrid, Energinet, Statnett and Svenska kraftnät. The four operators say requests for capacity now exceed what is available in the short to medium term, and that the volume already far exceeds both existing and planned grid capacity. That is a Nordic process warning. It is not a reserved megawatt for Horndal, Hamre or Falun.

The 23 June 2026 joint notice is the dated four-TSO source used here. Fingrid, Energinet, Statnett and Svenska kraftnät say they are seeing a significant increase in demand for grid connections. Across the Nordic countries, requests for capacity now exceed significantly what is currently available in the short to medium term. The volume of connection requests already far exceeds both existing and planned grid capacity. Those sentences are system-planning claims. They do not name a customer or a Swedish hall.

Denmark’s paragraph is Energinet’s. The notice says Energinet has developed the connection process, including maturity requirements and payments in early project phases, and is adjusting capacity-allocation principles and queue management. It quotes Energinet that the request for capacity for new grid connections is now eight times higher than today’s total peak load, and that some projects are larger than the total Copenhagen area. Eight times is not a data-centre-only total. This article does not convert that multiplier into a gigawatt figure the joint note does not calculate.

Finland and Norway stay in their own verbs. Fingrid is developing flexible connection agreements, updated general connection terms and power-based tariffs. Statnett plans strengthened maturity requirements for large consumption projects, prioritises ordinary and smaller consumption, and has made the list of connection requests public. The Norwegian parliament has adopted Energy Act amendments to enable prioritisation when necessary to safeguard national security interests. None of those sentences is a Swedish reservation.

Sweden’s paragraph is the one that can be misread into a site brochure. Svenska kraftnät applies a structured, stepwise connection process. Mature projects are allocated capacity while less mature projects gradually lose their place in the queue. The authority plans, in the coming year, to launch a pilot relating to capacity zones as a complement to the existing connection process. A planned pilot is not a live zone map and not a spare-megawatt band for SE1–SE4. It does not replace the 1 September 2026 national type table or the 2025 reservation year-note already in this register.

DataCenterSweden records 23 June 2026 as a Nordic TSO process note. No project identifier is attached. First-come, first-served has in many cases already shifted toward maturity-based assessments, the operators write. That vocabulary update does not energise a hall. The next Swedish cell still needs a property-level paper from the local, regional or transmission owner.

Why it matters

A four-country warning can look like proof that Sweden has no power, or that a plot is next in line. The June note is usable only if requests, planned grid and a future capacity-zone pilot stay unassigned to any named hall.

What remains unknown

The joint notice does not publish a megawatt total for data centres, does not name applicants, and does not start Svenska kraftnät’s capacity-zone pilot.

Sources