This article was co-authored by Geoffroy Berthon, Partner, and Charlotte Berrat, Associate – Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe

Given their power requirements, data centers located in France must generally connect to the public electricity transmission system, operated by RTE (Réseau de Transport d’Électricité). Grid connection determines both the timeline and the cost of a project. In areas where transmission capacity is saturated, securing and maintaining a position in RTE’s connection queue are a key prerequisite for the project to proceed.

This article provides a practical legal perspective on several points arising from the grid connection process for data centers in France. It focuses on some issues that appear most critical in practice, without aiming to be exhaustive.

Overview of the grid connection process

Standard procedure

The grid connection process is governed by RTE’s grid connection request procedure, available on RTE’s website. The grid connection of a consumption facility to the RPT requires the completion of several contractual agreements: a technical and financial proposal (PTF), a grid connection agreement, an operation agreement, and a network access agreement.

These documents comprise two elements: the general conditions, which are published by RTE and shall be approved by the CRE, and the specific conditions, which are particular to each project.

Under the current legal framework, the acceptance of the PTF by the project developer places the project in a queue for grid connection, and the position in this queue determines the priority order in which connection capacity is allocated by RTE.

Fast track procedure

RTE has established an alternative procedure that allows grid connection within three to four years for large-scale consumption facilities connecting to RTE’s very high voltage network (400kV).

This initiative (HTB3) aims to accelerate the grid connection of consumption facilities with very high-power demand (typically between 400MW and 1GW) by targeting suitable sites.

Suitable sites are identified by the State based on three main criteria: availability of industrial land, proximity to the 400kV network, and capacity to offer high power rapidly (including through measures such as redispatching).

The central act of the Fast Track procedure is the grid connection commitment, which is the equivalent of the PTF in the standard procedure. It sets out the technical and financial conditions of the grid connection, including a component relating to network extension works and a capacity component reflecting the additional cost of the accelerated power delivery.

Under this Fast Track procedure, at the time of executing the grid connection commitment, project developers must provide to RTE a 10 percent first-demand bank guarantee for the amount of the network extension works described in the grid connection solution, followed by a down payment of 30 percent of the total grid connection costs.

The regulatory framework and its evolution

Applicable instruments

The grid connection process is governed by several instruments listed above alongside Articles L. 342-1 et seq. and Articles D. 342-1 et seq. of the French Energy Code. However, RTE’s documents are general in nature, sometimes leaving room in practice for interpretation by the parties.

By way of illustration, the Connection Procedure Document outlines RTE’s land control requirements by providing non-exhaustive examples of acceptable evidence required for a project to enter the queue.

Similarly, certain provisions regarding the entry into force of transitional rules are not always explicit about their application in cases where the PTF was received before the publication of a new connection procedure document but accepted afterward by the applicant.

Chronology and rationale of the regulatory evolution

On 29 June 2024, RTE published a Connection Procedure Document introducing new rules on queuing and PTF suspension. These rules have since been maintained in the latest version of the Connection Procedure Document dated 12 February 2026, although they remain subject to further evolution and, especially, a shift from a “first-come, first-served” to a “first-ready, first-served” logic.

This regulatory evolution reflects the need to manage increasing demand for grid connections, particularly from large-scale consumption facilities such as data centers. For example, in its Deliberation of 13 June 2024, the CRE noted the need to “limit the possibility for applicants to suspend projects without justification in order to avoid blocking the queue in saturated areas.” The objective is to ensure queue positions are held by projects with a prospect of completion, rather than by dormant or speculative projects.

Transitional regime

According to Article 11 of the Connection Procedure Document dated 12 February 2026, for projects that accepted a PTF before this document came into force, the provisions relating to queuing and suspension rules apply only from 29 June 2026, while other provisions do not apply and the PTF remains governed by the Connection Procedure Document in force at the acceptance date of the PTF.

This means that different provisions of the former and new procedure documents may apply simultaneously to a given project. This may create complex contractual situations where, in our view, provisions must be interpreted in light of legal certainty and general principles of contract interpretation (in particular the obligation of good faith under Article 1104 of the French Civil Code) to find workable solutions for the parties.

Queue entry

Conditions for queue entry

A project enters the connection queue when all conditions for PTF acceptance are met: RTE has received an executed copy of the PTF-specific conditions, without any reservations; the applicant provides proof of land control over the parcel hosting the connection point; the applicant has paid the initial instalment; and the applicant has provided evidence of project advancement by submitted one of the documents listed in Annex 1 of the Connection Procedure Document or has paid a flat-rate fee of €1,000 ($1,169) per MW based on maximum active power.

RTE notifies the applicant of the queue entry date once all conditions are satisfied.

Proof of land control

According to Article 5.1 of the Connection Procedure Document, acceptance of the PTF also requires the applicant to provide proof of land control over the site where the facility is located. The following categories of documents are accepted: ownership title, lease, promise to sell, or promise to lease granting the applicant a right to operate the land; any act issued by a public service operator or domain manager certifying that there is no opposition to the grid connection request; extract from the French Official Journal designating the applicant as winner of a public selection process; or a duly completed and executed sworn statement, the template of which is given in Annex 1 IV of the Connection Procedure Document.

In the sworn statement, the applicant must certify that it holds: an ownership title, a lease, a promise to sell, or a promise to lease.

The applicant must also attach to this sworn statement a copy or extract of the document.

In practice, data center developers frequently do not have full ownership or a binding lease at the stage of PTF acceptance. Land acquisition and grid connection are typically pursued in parallel. That is why, at the beginning of the process, a promise to sell is typically sufficient to meet RTE’s documentation requirements.

Operation of the queue

To date, the connection queue operates on a “first-come, first-served” basis and is operated by RTE jointly with the French distribution system operators.

Queue entry reserves the PTF connection conditions, determines the timeline for grid connection works and locks in the financial contribution estimate (subject to indexation and cost overrun caps).

However, RTE launched a public consultation in February 2026 to amend its Connection Procedure Document and this “first-come, first-served” rule to favor a dynamic allocation mechanism that would allow reallocation of capacity to the most advanced projects regardless of their entry date in the queue. This concept, referred to as “first-ready first-served”, would constitute a transformation of the current queue logic.

As of the date of this article, these new rules have not been adopted by RTE and, according to the latest information made available to us, these rules are expected to apply as from 1 January 2027.

Requirements to maintain the grid connection queue

Article 5.3 of the Connection Procedure Document provides for ongoing obligations for applicants to maintain their position in the queue. Specifically, RTE will conduct annual reviews on the anniversary date of the project’s entry into the queue to verify project advancement and land control.

First, with respect to project advancement, to retain its position in the queue, the project developer must provide evidence of project advancement by submitting one of the documents listed in Annex 1 of the Connection Procedure Document at each annual review by RTE.

If the project developer is unable to provide any of the documents listed in Annex 1, it may pay a fee of €1,000 per MW prior to RTE’s annual review date to maintain its position in the grid connection queue. This option is available at most twice. However, if the developer elected to pay this fee upon entering the queue instead of providing evidence of project advancement, this payment option may only be exercised once.

Second, with respect to land control, if the applicant did not provide evidence of a “permanent” title over the land to be interconnected to enter the queue (e.g., if the applicant provides a promise to sell, a promise to lease, or a letter of intent), the applicant shall demonstrate to RTE that it still holds a valid right to operate the parcel to maintain its position in the queue.

Assignment of the PTF

Former regime

Under Article 8-7 of the PTF general conditions dated 24 October 2022, the PTF was freely transferable by the applicant to any third party, for the facility as defined in the PTF, subject to prior notification to RTE by registered letter. No consent from RTE was required.

Current regime, as of 29 June 2024

Article 9-11 of the PTF general conditions now provides that a PTF is transferable only to a company controlled by the applicant, a company controlling the applicant, or a company controlled by the same parent as the applicant, within the meaning of Article L. 233-3 of the French Commercial Code. The transfer of the PTF requires a tripartite amendment signed by RTE, the transferor and the transferee.

Accordingly, transfer of a PTF to an unrelated third party is now strictly restricted, and similar restrictions apply to the grid connection agreement. A practical issue, to be resolved on a case-by-case basis through analysis of the applicable documentation, is whether these new restrictions apply to projects that received a PTF under the prior version of the PTF general conditions.

It is worth noting that a change in the developer’s shareholding is legally distinct from a PTF assignment and is not subject to a dedicated restriction clause in the documentation. Furthermore, while the documentation provides for notification in the event of a “legal modification,” this is conditional upon the information originally provided having “been used to establish the PTF or the Grid Connection Agreement,” whereas the data collection forms D1 and D2 to be provided to obtain a PTF or a grid connection agreement do not mention the developer’s shareholding.

Modification of the project

Modifications of a project that has entered the queue are regulated. Under Article 6 of the Connection Procedure Document, modifications which are listed in this Article result in loss of queue position. The project then re-enters the queue on the date of acceptance of the new PTF.

However, other modifications do not affect the queue position of the project. This is a critical consideration for operators contemplating changes to the nature of their project.

Modification by RTE of the available connection capacity

Three months before the estimated date on which RTE is to send the grid connection agreement, the applicant must provide RTE with:

• Proof that all necessary authorizations for the facility have been obtained (building permit and environmental authorizations); and
• A document justifying the connection capacity of the facility (Art. 8.1.1 of the Connection Procedure Document).

Failure to provide these documents on time may result in a change in the date of sending of the grid connection agreement and/or the date of availability of the grid connection by RTE. The objective of RTE is to ensure consistency between the connection power requested by the applicant from RTE and the power specified in the environmental authorization or building permit for the applicant’s project.

If the connection capacity of the facility is less than the connection capacity requested, RTE may unilaterally reduce the connection capacity of the facility (Art. 8.1.1 of the Connection Procedure Document).

Suspension of the grid connection process

Since 29 June 2024, the Connection Procedure Document provides that suspension of the grid connection is restricted to cases where legal actions have been brought against the project’s administrative authorizations or where such authorizations have been refused. As of 29 June 2026, these suspension rules also apply to all projects that accepted PTF prior to 29 June 2024. Previously, the rules were more flexible, allowing for the suspension of the grid connection under a wider range of circumstances.

Withdrawal from the grid connection process

According to Articles 9.6.1 and 9.6.2 of the PTF general conditions, the applicant may withdraw its grid connection request at any time by registered letter. The financial consequences are the following:

• The applicant will be invoiced for the flat-rate sum of €42,000 ($49,090) paid upon submission of the grid connection request in accordance with Article 7.1 of the PTF general conditions, if this amount was deducted from the first instalment
• The applicant pays RTE for all services performed and non-refundable commitments, minimum €30,000 ($35,070)
• If RTE’s expenses are less than amounts already paid by the applicant, RTE reimburses the outstanding balance

However, the applicant may be reimbursed for certain sums such as the flat-rate sums of €1,000 per MW paid for queue entry and/or maintaining the queue in accordance with Article 5.1 or 5.3 of the Connection Procedure Document and the quote-part of shared facilities.

“Use it or lose it” mechanism

Article L. 342-24 of the French Energy Code provides for a mechanism that allows RTE to reduce the connection capacity of a user whose actual consumption falls short of the level stipulated in its grid connection agreement.

The CRE Deliberation no. 2024-229 dated 18 December 2024 provides that two options coexist:

• Under the first option, the applicant may request its full target connection capacity from the date on which the connection facilities are made available. After five years from the date on which the connection facilities are made available, this capacity may be reduced if the maximum power drawn by the facility is lower than the requested capacity
• Under the second option, the applicant may opt for a progressive ramp-up over a period of up to ten years from the date on which the connection facilities are made available, with intermediate connection-capacity milestones. At each milestone, the connection capacity may be reduced if the maximum power drawn by the facility over the previous five years (or since the connection facilities were made available, whichever period is shorter) is lower than the level anticipated for that milestone, subject to a 10 percent tolerance margin, unless the applicant has contractually subscribed to that level of capacity for the relevant period

According to the CRE Deliberation dated 18 December 2024, this mechanism is applicable to new facilities from 1 August 2025 onwards (i.e. installations whose grid connection agreement is executed after 1 August 2025) and to facilities that are subject to an increase in connection capacity after that date.

Data centers as “Projects of Major National Interest”

The law on the simplification of economic life (SVE), published in the French Official Journal on 27 May 2026, qualifies certain data centers as “projects of major national interest” (PINM) based on their characteristics, such as investment amount, installed power and contribution to the digital or ecological transition or to national sovereignty.

Key effects for grid connection are the following: The Préfet may reclassify PINMs by priority in the connection queue where congestion generates delays exceeding five years, and the minister in charge of energy may request RTE to reserve capacity for major projects.

However, the Préfet’s authority to reorder projects within the connection queue is transitional and is scheduled to expire on 10 March 2027.

Regulatory monitoring

RTE periodically submits amended versions of the Connection Procedure Document and general conditions for public consultation prior to CRE approval. Operators with ongoing grid connection projects may consider monitoring such consultations, as amendments may affect their pending applications.

The regulatory framework applicable to data center grid connections continues to evolve. In addition to changes to the connection procedure itself, legislative developments and the potential introduction of a dynamic queue mechanism may further modify the legal framework.