The Norwegian government has temporarily halted the reservation of connections for new data centers.

The move effectively acts as a moratorium on new grid-connected data center developments until regulations are in place. Projects already connected or already grid-approved are unaffected.

System operator Statnett AS said that the halt is expected to be lifted no later than Aug. 1, 2027.

“We want data centers in Norway, but we can’t have all types of data centers,” Digitalization Minister Torgeir Micaelsen said.

“We must therefore control the growth and ensure that Norway gets the data centers we actually need — those that provide the greatest societal benefit.”

A new licensing scheme is expected to favor data centers that serve defense, police and emergency services, health services and other critical infrastructure such as the mobile network and the financial system.

According to Statnet, around 800MW of data centers are currently connected in the country. Some 4.2GW is reserved, and 9.1GW is in the capacity queue. Another 18GW is requested for connection.

That represents an additional 31.3GW of compute (however, not all projects would actually be built). The country’s national peak demand is currently just 25GW.

Norway imposed a temporary ban on the establishment of new data centers that mine proof-of-work cryptocurrencies last year.

Last month, the Norwegian Technology Council published a report that said foreign companies own 90 percent of the data center capacity in Norway. It added that data centers provided few jobs beyond the construction phase, and said that revenue from the digital services run from data centers in Norway rarely ends up in Norway.

“Data centers are a key infrastructure in our society, but with the pace of development we are seeing now, it becomes necessary to ask the question of scope and how we can align policy so that we get the most out of scarce resources,” Tore Tennøe, the board’s director, said.

The group, which advises the government as an independent body, plans to release a report later this year with recommendations on regulating the data center sector.

Norway is home to existing and planned data centers from Microsoft, Nscale, TikTok (through Green Mountain), CoreWeave, and others.