Finland could axe its first-come, first-served electricity grid connection system and replace it with new groupings that prioritize small-scale connections, dropping larger data centers down the priority queue.

In a draft amendment to Finland’s Electricity Market Act, the Finnish government has proposed new rules for determining priority for grid connections, with specific provisions for data centers.

The Finnish government said that the change was aimed at motivating high electricity consumers to take measures to lower electricity prices and reduce the risk of shortages. It will also encourage large electricity consumers to move to less congested areas.

The proposed changes would split priority between four groups, the first of which prioritizes small-scale connectors: sites with a power intake capacity of no more than 3MW.

Data centers are excluded from this segment unless they have a capacity of 1MW or less.

This priority group also includes critical infrastructure, electricity storage facilities with capacities of 100kVA or less, and electricity storage facilities that are connected to power plants not charged with electricity from the electricity network.

The projects in this group would receive connections on a first-come, first-served basis all year round, similar to the current system.

The second priority group includes data centers with more than 1MW of capacity, but no more than 10MW, unless the facility has electricity production capacity under a flexibility agreement of at least 80 percent of its peak output.

Under the production commitment, 50 percent of the site’s estimated annual electricity consumption will need to be covered by local production. The local power plant will need to be commissioned no more than 36 months before the commissioning of the data center site, and is required to be in the same area.

The data center will also have to offer flexible production capacity on an organized marketplace as electricity production or demand-side flexibility at the site. The production capacity will need to be able to produce electricity without interruption and be offered continuously, with an output of at least ten percent of the peak output of the site.

Data centers with more than 10MW of capacity are allowed in the third priority group without this production commitment, while the fourth group includes all other projects.

Projects that fall into these three priority categories will be grouped into a six-month approval process, with first allocation in December 2027.

The amendment is scheduled to come into force on January 1, 2027, and apply to connection requests submitted before its enactment if no agreements are reached.