The New Data Centre Strategy
The Norwegian government sets a clear goal for Norway to be the world’s most digitalised country before 2030. As a part of this, the new data centre strategy describes data centres as critical digital infrastructure [1] . It follows from the strategy document that when talking about data centres, we should talk about value creation and safety [2] . In the government’s own words, “data centres are at the heart of the digital foundation” and the “need for data storage and processing capacity is constantly growing” [3] .The new data centre strategy devotes an entire chapter to the data centre industry’s contributions to value creation and jobs, and an entire chapter to how the industry contributes to a safer and more prepared Norway. It cements the view from the Data Centre Regulation, that Norwegian data centres contribute to Norway’s digital autonomy, and to the regional digital autonomy in Norway [4] .
The government’s high-level goals for data centre politics are set out on page 7 in the strategy document. The first goals are for Norway to be attractive for data centre establishment which contributes to increased value created, safety and the safeguarding of Norwegian interests.
The principles for development of the data centre industry are set out as follows:
- The building and operation of data centres must take into consideration how it affects the climate, environment, nature and society. Critical digital infrastructure, as a prioritized development purpose, shall be built in a way which is positive for nature, and which takes into account differentiated land use management.
- Data centres must be space efficient, and as far as possible, not be planned in areas with climate and environmental values of national or significant regional interest.
- Data storage and processing must be based on renewable energy and be energy efficient.
- Data centres must exploit the real opportunities for energy recovery and reuse of surplus heat from their operations.
- All hardware in data centres shall, as far as possible, be reused or recycled.
The principles coincide with the increased global awareness focusing on the one hand on the importance of data centres for security reasons and for facilitating the digital economy and on the other hand, data centres’ potential conflict with environmental interests (e.g. land use and consumption of electrical energy). In this way, the strategy mandates an increased focus on balance between resource consumption and the need to promote critical digital infrastructure.
In relation to the material content of the strategy, data centre operators may note the following:
- Professional data centre operators should welcome that the government now clearly distinguishes between data centres supporting the use of digital services and technologies on the one side, and data centres enabling cryptocurrency on the other [5] .
- On the background of increased local resistance to data centres and national discussions related to the role of data centres in Norway, data centre operators should also welcome that the government wants to ensure a predictable framework which provides good growth conditions for data centres in Norway [6] .
- The importance of municipal decision-making in the data centre development process, in our view, also underscores the need for the government’s initiative to support municipalities in their planning role, and its initiative to establish areas for guidance and exchanges of experiences [7] .These tools might create increased legal clarity and legal predictability in the planning process for data centre operators.
- Chapter 4 in the strategy highlights data centres as core to Norway’s digital infrastructure. It sets out, among other things, that critical societal functions should be delivered from data centres in Norway or within allied countries, highlights the need to prevent that data centres are misused for criminal purposes.
- The government also wants to work towards ensuring that data centres and international routes are established throughout the country to scale redundant solutions which are important to business and society and to build up basic national functions [8] .
- In relation to energy consumption and surplus heat, the government notifies that it is looking at changes to the rules concerning cost-benefit analysis for the utilisation of surplus heat. The changes are aimed at ensuring that more plants are covered, and to impose stricter requirements for the implementation of profitable measures [9] .
- The government wants to establish a public-private cooperation between the electronic communications authorities and business actors to set out common goals and to formulate common visions related to increased and lasting sustainability.
- The government also wants to assess national planning provisions with a temporary or permanent ban on the establishment of data centres which mainly conduct energy-intensive crypto mining [10] .
- The government also gave notice that, in today’s security situation, there is a need for a legal basis for prioritising national security interests, such as the defence industry and critical societal functions, and that national security interests thus, in certain situations should have priority access to the electricity grid, cf. below in chapter 3.
Legal Basis for Prioritising National Security Interests Access to the Grid
The Norwegian rules concerning access to the grid, have traditionally been based on a pure principle of “first come, first serve”. After 1 January 2025, the grid company must conduct a maturity assessment of a request for access or increased capacity, cf. regulation on network regulation and the energy market (NEM) § 3-4. This is an assessment based on objective criteria. This amendment to an old legal principle in the Energy Act, might be viewed in light of data centres’ increased consumption of the finite resource that (renewable) electricity is.
On July 1, 2025, an amendment to the Energy Act came into effect, giving transmission and regional grid operators certain duties to reserve capacity for certain consumption customers.
Further, as mentioned above, a national hearing was started by the Ministry of Energy on 27 June 2025 proposing a new amendment to the Energy Act. The proposed amendment gives legal basis for prioritising certain electricity consumers’ access to the grid. Together, the two amendments (the effective amendment of January and the proposed amendment of July) signal an increased focus on securing some consumers access to the grid.
The proposed new regulation has the following wording (office translation):
Ҥ 3-8. (National security interests) When necessary to safeguard national security interests, the King may in special situations decide that the concessionaires under Chapter 3 shall prioritize grid connection or capacity increase for a specific withdrawal customer. Connected customers may not be deprived of capacity that has been taken into use.
No decision can be made pursuant to the first paragraph if the purpose can be achieved in a timely manner by other means. The said restriction does not apply if this would clearly entail disproportionate costs. The decision shall be implemented with the least possible inconvenience to third parties affected.
Before a decision is made, advisory statements shall be obtained from the relevant authorities who shall justify the need for the decision. Decisions may be made without regard to the provisions of the Energy Act with regulations and concession conditions. Decisions pursuant to the first paragraph are special grounds for enforcement under the Enforcement Act.
The King may issue further regulations on the prioritization of grid connection or capacity increases to supplement and implement this provision.”
According to the Ministry of Energy “The proposed exemption is narrow. In order to achieve the purpose of the amendment, it is necessary to limit this exemption to other legitimate purposes. This means that the exemption only can be applied if the consumption is of such a nature that it is necessary to safeguard national security interests.”
In the hearing notice, the Ministry of Energy underscores that the main rule in the Energy Act with regulations, is that the grid company has a duty to connect new consumption, and that all requests shall be granted without undue delay. This also applies for critical societal functions. Future customers must therefore deal with the time schedules which the grid company sets out for access, and the regulations concerning maturity and cost contributions [11] . The threshold for using the new regulation is relatively high [12].
It further follows that as “a result of the obligation to connect, everyone who wants a connection will get one, but some risk getting it later than they would like. The right to prioritize must be reserved for cases where consumption is so time-critical that the normal connection process will not provide connection in time. Furthermore, solutions that involve the project changing location to a point in the grid where connection can be provided at the necessary time must also be explored. The same applies to possibilities for postponing or downscaling parts of the capacity requirement.
Further, one must note that already connected customers may not be deprived of the capacity after the capacity has “been taken into use”. In our view the meaning and intent behind the phrasing “has been taken into use” should be further clarified during the hearing to clarify whether the proposed amendment only regulates the situation before connection is achieved, or if capacity may be withdrawn also after grid connection has been established – but before use of capacity has started.
However, in situations where it is i) necessary to safeguard national security interests, and ii) time is so critical that a normal access process will not give grid access in time, the proposed rule may be used.
The Ministry of Energy recommends that the Security Act’s definition of national security interests is used in relation to which projects may be prioritized [13] . The Ministry of Energy also highlights that since third parties may be adversely affected by prioritization, the ordinary access process must have been attempted, and other options must have been assessed [14] . Adverse effects for third parties affected shall be minimized. Both societal and business economics are relevant in this assessment [15] .
For data centres which are in fact deprioritized, this clause may have material negative economic effects. Data centre operators should therefore, to make sure that this amendment, if approved and effective, is taken into account in end-customer contracts by reference.
The Ministry of Energy concludes that decisions according to the suggestion, may have minor to significant negative consequences for third parties who have reserved capacity in the grid, but may lose all or part of their reservation. Grid connection may thus be postponed for a short or long period, depending on what grid measures may be necessary to ensure connection. The Ministry of Energy thus emphasizes the need to only implemented decisions with the least possible inconvenience to third parties. The Ministry of Energy also makes clear that compensation may be payable in accordance with the general rules of tort, normally from the operator, which is given priority grid connection or capacity increase, etc. [16] .
Whether or not damages due to potential breach of customer contracts are covered (and to which extent) is not dealt with in the hearing notice as the Ministry of Energy states that “A decision regarding compensation must be made in each specific case”. This emphasises the need for data centre operators to include clauses related to this eventuality in their end-customer contracts.
As mentioned above, this proposed regulation is explicitly mentioned in the new data centre strategy in which ordinary data centres are viewed as critical infrastructure. At first glance the proposed regulation may seem detrimental to data centre operators requesting large amounts of electrical energy. For operators, access to the grid is of major importance. However, data centres being built or expanded to host customers of national security interests may benefit from the amendment. Accordingly, the amendment might give rise to a certain shift of the attractiveness of purely commercial end-customers and perhaps give rise to increased market appeal for businesses and public entities which are vital to national security. However, it is important to note that the proposed amendment is a narrow exemption to be used in special and demanding situations where national security must take priority.
CMS Kluge possesses comprehensive expertise in all legal aspects related to establishing and operating data centres in Norway. If your business would like to discuss any issues related to data centres—whether in relation to the recent strategic updates, contracts of any kind, regulatory compliance, planning or operational challenges—please do not hesitate to contact CMS Kluge.
