There are major plans for the future of Business Park Falster near Nørre Alslev, where both a large data centre and a new charging facility for heavy transport are being developed.
But the two types of projects could be treated very differently if there is not enough electricity capacity for everyone.
The reason is growing pressure on Denmark’s electricity grid. In March, Energinet temporarily paused new large grid connection agreements to the transmission network. At the time, around 60 GW of new electricity demand was waiting for connection, while Denmark’s maximum electricity consumption is around 7 GW.
In June, this prompted the government and a broad majority in the Danish Parliament to agree that scarce grid capacity should in future be allocated according to which projects are considered most important – rather than simply on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Danish Energy Agency has now sent a draft of the specific rules out for consultation. Under the proposal, new grid connection requests will be divided into four categories, which Energinet and the grid companies must use when there is not enough capacity for all projects. This could prove particularly important in Nørre Alslev.
GARBE is working on a data centre that could require up to 350 MW and involve an investment of up to DKK 20 billion. Data centres are, as a starting point, placed in the lowest-priority category.
In the same business park, Dutch charging company Milence has bought land for charging stations for heavy transport. Certain publicly accessible charging facilities for heavy electric vehicles, by contrast, may qualify for the highest-priority category.
That does not mean Milence will automatically move ahead of GARBE. But if capacity is scarce, higher-priority projects will be in a stronger position. A data centre covered by the rules may therefore have to wait for the grid to be expanded – or, ultimately, could be refused a connection if the available capacity is allocated to higher-priority projects.
