Denmark has introduced emergency legislation aimed at overhauling access to the country’s electricity grid, as Energy Minister warned that the existing system could hinder the transition to green energy (Danish Ministry of Climate, Energy and Utilities, 20/08/2026).
Under the proposed legislation, the Energy Ministry would be empowered to establish new criteria determining which projects receive priority access to the grid, replacing the current first-come, first-served approach.
"Our electricity grid is under pressure, and this threatens to bring our green transition and development to a standstill. So it is urgent to take the first step in the marathon that it is to get our electricity grid on the right course”, stated the ministry.
The Danish Parliament will now review a bill setting out the emergency measures. The objective is for TSO Energinet and grid companies to apply the new rules when they next assess requests for major grid connections, expected in the autumn. The bill establishes four categories of electricity consumers.
- The first would cover additional demand from existing customers, as well as new households and small businesses. The second would include projects contributing to electrification and the green transition. These two categories would receive the highest priority for grid access.
- The remaining categories would cover batteries, including those installed within existing solar or wind parks, and very large electricity consumers, such as data centers. These consumers would receive lower priority based on their “grid-friendliness,” referring to the extent to which projects can adjust their electricity demand in response to grid constraints. Data center applications could be rejected where sufficient energy capacity is not available.
Energinet has a long-term development plan (2024) that foresees an important expansion of the existing transmission grid to better integrate renewable energy sources and Power-to X. Towards 2030 alone, it sees a need to build approximately an extra 2,700 km of electricity grid in 2030 and a further 3,000-4,000 km will be needed with a view to 2050.
These developments are necessary as renewables accounted for over 90% of the power mix in 2024 (+58 points since 2010), according to our data. Denmark plans to supply 100% of its power consumption with renewables by 2028-2030 and to reach carbon neutrality by 2045 (Enerdata Global Energy Research).
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