Denmark’s Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities said the emergency plan, suggested in August and voted in on October 1, 2026, takes effect on October 12. It replaces the current first-come, first-served principle with a model giving state-owned transmission operator Energinet and the grid companies greater opportunity to prioritize who gets access to limited grid space.
Connection requests will be split into four categories. Category 1, with the greatest priority, covers standard load growth for existing customers, new households, small businesses and critical societal functions such as defense, healthcare and emergency services, including data centers linked to critical societal functions. Category 2 covers the green transition and electrification of society, Category 3 energy storage, and Category 4 “in principle” includes data centers, which the agreement notes are typically not geographically bound and may have consumption patterns that negatively affect the grid. Projects that place less strain on the grid can be prioritized within their category, for example by shifting consumption to match available capacity.
Energinet and the local grid companies will have authority to reject applications from Category 3 and 4 projects if sufficient capacity is not expected within the foreseeable future and a connection would displace higher-priority projects, with Denmark’s Electricity Supply Authority as the appeals body.