Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland says that there will be changes in how electricity is prioritized for various business projects in Norway. He says this to Teknisk Ukeblad during Renewable Norway’s annual conference in Bergen on Thursday. – We will come up with a further priority assessment, or a priority direction, for network connection, he says to the newspaper. Today, in reality, it is the first-come, first-served principle that applies. Read more about how power is allocated further down in the article. Asked for 8000 MW The growth of data centers in the last couple of years has been formidable. In recent years, many places in Norway have had power-intensive industry in their municipality. Tiktok’s new data center in Hamar has perhaps received the most attention. It is estimated that they will seize almost 1 percent of Norway’s total energy consumption. But the power consumption of the data center in Hamar is only a drop in the ocean if you look at how much power this industry really wants. This is according to a recent report from Statnett. Here, among other things, it is explained how much power various actors have reserved and applied for access to with Statnett. If you look at the total demand, traditional industry with almost 12,000 desired MW is the most power-demanding industry in Norway. A bit behind comes the collection category data center. Data centers involve everything from storing information on the internet to mining cryptocurrency. In total, various data centers have requested over 8,000 MW of power. If these run at full capacity for an entire year, this corresponds to around 70 TWh, or roughly half of Norway’s total electricity consumption during a year. Or 27 times the Fosen plant. Statnett: Massive interest – The figures show the massive interest in green growth in Norway. There are many industrial plans, business development and electrification of existing industry. That’s what director of regional plans for Eastern, Central and Northern Norway Anne Sofie Ravndal Risnes in Statnett says. She says that data centers are a very complex group, where different concepts have different useful lives. – There the usage time varies greatly. Some data centers that mine cryptocurrency will not use electricity if there are high prices, while other data centers will provide services that rely on electricity all the time. At the same time, Statnett is aware that space is very tight. – In 2022 and so far 2023 alone, we have received inquiries for around 10,000 MW. news has previously told how dozens of industrial establishments in Northern Norway have been refused by Statnett on the grounds that there is not enough capacity. This has raised a debate about how to use the power in Norway, in a situation where the power surplus is quickly eaten up. But first we need to understand how Statnett allocates power. This is how the allocation of power works today In order to be able to connect to the power grid, there must be free capacity available. The vast majority of projects that need electricity will apply for this through their regional network companies. Projects that require 300 MW or more may be relevant to connect to Statnett’s transmission network. Statnett does not distinguish between social benefit or employment when they allocate free capacity. Here, the first-come, first-served principle applies. But the project must be mature enough to get electricity. If there are unresolved issues surrounding permits or approvals, Statnett can move the project to the back of the queue. – In order to be mature enough to get reserved network capacity, you have to meet a number of criteria. It involves a financing plan, government permits and a progress plan. There are requirements we set before they can reserve capacity, says Ravndal Risnes in Statnett. Two municipalities – two different attitudes In Nordland there are already several data centers – and new ones are constantly being planned. Last year, Hadsel municipality in Vesterålen got a power-intensive data center that mines cryptocurrency. But quite quickly, opposition to the data center began to emerge. Since then, the local politicians have tried several methods to get rid of the data center from the municipality – without success. – I am experiencing a clear, cross-political Hadsel who wants a national ban on data centers that mine cryptocurrency. This is a labor-intensive business that creates little value for society, mayor Aina Johanne Nilsen (Sp) told news. Back in January, an attempt to declare the business incompatible with the zoning plan was declared illegal by the State Administrator in Nordland. At Myran in Hadsel municipality, containers with powerful computers inside were set up last year. Cryptocurrency is mined here and the facility uses large amounts of electricity. For over six months, the local politicians have tried to stick sticks in the wheels for the centre, without success. Photo: Carsten Lier / Stokmarknes Data Center A little further inland, in Sørfold, the politicians will decide whether a data center should be allowed to be established in the municipality. There, people are significantly more positive about getting a data center in their municipality. – People are divided on this, like so much else, says mayor Gisle Hansen (Sp). For many years he has sat on the board of Nord-Salten Kraft, and has worked to bring power-intensive industry to the area of the municipality. – I know of other players who have tried to establish themselves in the area. But now it is this player who has reached the power queue, and who has a mature project. The majority in the municipal council decided on Thursday to regulate the area in question, which could mean that they are one step closer to a data center in the municipality. – Madness to prioritize data centers The positive attitude from the Sørfold mayor makes Elnar Holmen in the Bodøregionens Utviklingsselskap (BRUS) shake his head. – It is madness to prioritize data centers now ahead of large industrial projects that have much greater ripple effects. He claims that the new data center in Sørfold will use more electricity than the steel mill in Mo i Rana, Celsa Armeringsstål. – Celsa employs 350 people. This data center will employ maybe 4-5 people – maybe ten – who knows. Elnar Holmen is head of the Bodø region’s development company (BRUS). He is critical of not prioritizing harder when new projects are to be allocated power by Statnett. Photo: Synnøve Sundby Fallmyr / news He fears Sørfold could fall into the same “trap” as in Hadsel, where afterwards you end up with a data center that the politicians don’t want. – In this case, the municipality should wait and use the power on industrial projects that provide employment and value creation. – What do you think the state should do with all these applications? – We have to change the criteria for who gets the little power we have left. There must be projects that provide a large employment effect and jobs. Industri Energi: – Everyone cannot get electricity at the same time. He receives support from confederation leader Frode Alfheim in Industri Energi. – We must give a clear message to those who allocate electricity to projects to prioritize more strongly than is done today. He represents the electrochemical industry, where many of the companies use large amounts of electricity. Frode Alheim is the union leader in Industri Energi, and himself comes from a district municipality in Nordland. Photo: Carina Johansen – Everyone cannot get electricity at the same time. Then it is those who have the best projects measured in terms of jobs, high value creation and who ensure high export income to Norway that must go ahead of data centers that produce cryptocurrency, he says. – But don’t they have the right to be able to establish themselves on the same level as an aluminum plant or an ammonia factory? – Yes, that’s the way it is today. But we have future prospects which say that there may be a shortage of electricity in a few years, until offshore wind and more renewable energy production get real momentum. Then we have to prioritize. – There will be no digitization without data centers But not everyone is equally critical of data centers in Norway. In an article for news, business policy director at Abelia, Nils-Ola Widme, writes that data centers are essential for the green shift to be carried out. – Data centers are necessary infrastructure for all forms of further development of Norwegian industry and business. Digitization makes the economy greener and all new industry in Norway needs digitization – and data centres. In the chronicle, Widme writes that data centers provide almost three times as many jobs as power-intensive industry, if measured against the number of megawatts. – What requires electricity in a data center is to cool down servers. If you want to use as little energy as possible on data centers and critical systems, there is no more perfect place than cold Norway. – The alternative is to place data centers in countries with a warmer climate, where electricity is produced with coal power. The Minister of Energy: – Should look at guidelines When Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland visited Bodø and the Nordland Labor Party’s annual meeting, many people were concerned about the power situation in Northern Norway. He is clear that many types of industry are needed in Norway – including data centres. – We need power for data storage because we have a lot of important data that we want to preserve in Norway. We use mobile phones, computers and store sensitive public information. Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland (Ap) attended the Nordland Labor Party’s annual meeting in Bodø earlier in March. Photo: Marius Guttormsen / news In a short time he will present an action plan for faster network development in Norway. – In this, we will also discuss priorities regarding network connection. We have not yet concluded, but it is clear that we should look at opportunities to give some guidance on prioritization, he says to news. Aasland adds that these are difficult discussions. – The power grid committee worked a lot on this, but was unable to find good enough answers to the question.
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The data center has asked for electricity corresponding to half of Norway’s consumption – news Nordland
