News from Energinet: New model for larger grid connections – new grid connection agreements will not be signed until autumn 2026

In March 2026, Energinet introduced a temporary pause on new grid connection agreements for larger connections to the transmission grid. The background was that capacity in the transmission grid was close to being exhausted, while the number of applications continued to rise. The pause covered both the conclusion of new grid connection agreements for larger customers and an extended processing time for projects in the screening and maturation phases.

The temporary pause was set at 3 months and was due to end on 3 June 2026. By the end of the pause, Energinet announced in its press release of 27 May 2026 (link here) that it will not return to the way in which larger connections were handled before the pause. The traditional “first come, first served” principle governing Energinet’s processing of larger connections is thus no longer the governing principle in the same way as before the pause.

In this article, we take a closer look at the new model for larger grid connections and Energinet’s case handling. We then consider the lawfulness of Energinet’s prioritization  and case handling. Finally, we outline a number of possible consequences that affected businesses should be aware of.

 

New model for larger grid connections

Energinet is transitioning to a new model for larger connections to the transmission grid, under which projects are processed collectively and subject to stricter requirements as to maturity, progress and grid-friendliness.

The stricter requirements as to maturity, progress and grid-friendliness are expected to be based on the Danish Energy Agency’s guidance on the ability of collective electricity supply undertakings to priorities between grid connections, which can be found here. In its guidance, the Danish Energy Agency has described the options available to the collective electricity supply undertakings for making increased use of prioritization  of grid connection requests, within the framework of EU law and the Danish Electricity Supply Act, and in light of the European Commission’s guidance to Member States on efficient and timely grid connections of 10 December 2025, which can be found here.

The European Commission’s and the Danish Energy Agency’s guidance documents make clear that, where grid capacity is constrained, electricity supply undertakings must prioritize between grid users’ connection requests.

The European Commission’s guidance, however, refers to three overall criteria: (1) the maturity criterion, (2) the milestone criterion and (3) the grid-friendliness criterion, all of which must be applied on an objective and non-discriminatory basis.

1. The maturity criterion means that prioritization depends on whether a project is ready for connection or has reached a sufficiently advanced stag

2. The milestone criterion supplements the maturity criterion by making prioritization conditional on the project owner being able to document concrete progress within set deadlines, including permits obtained from public authorities or investment decisions taken. The criterion is intended to prevent so-called speculative grid connection requests, where grid users reserve capacity without subsequently realizing the notified project.
3. The grid-friendliness criterion means that collective electricity supply undertakings prioritize so-called grid-friendly or grid-relieving projects. The criterion may also cover projects that support the needs of the system, deliver system benefits and contribute to lower costs for grid users. Prioritization based on grid-friendliness may, for example, include prioritizing co-located renewables and storage technologies, including batteries, prioritizing consumption facilities in production-dominated areas and production facilities in consumption-dominated areas, as well as prioritizing facilities capable of providing flexibility services.

It must therefore be expected that Energinet’s new model will result in the prioritization  of, for example, grid-relieving projects, utilization of existing substations, and connections in customers’ existing bays without changes to grid capacity.

 

Implementation of new maturity requirements

In parallel with the new model for larger connections, Energinet has announced in its press release of 6 May 2026 (link here) that it is expanding the maturity requirements to cover businesses seeking to obtain a grid connection agreement in the transmission grid.

The purpose of the new maturity requirements is to ensure that only mature projects obtain and retain grid connection agreements, so that so-called “ghost projects” cannot block genuine energy projects.

The new requirements are now divided into three different steps, also known as “maturity gates”.

• Maturity gate 1 (before the project can commence screening) means that before Energinet commences the screening process for a project, the requirements of gate 1 must be met and verified by The requirements of maturity gate 1 are that the grid customer must provide documentation of the planning basis for the project site. In addition, the grid customer must pay a start-up deposit of DKK 500,000, covering part of the costs of screening and maturation. Furthermore, the final contracting party to the grid connection agreement must be determined, and a escalation plan for the facility must be completed.
• Maturity gate 2 (before the project can commence maturation) means that before Energinet commences the maturation phase for a project, the requirements of gate 2 must be met and verified by The requirements of maturity gate 2 are that the grid customer must have prepared a schedule of deliverables before maturation can commence. In addition, the grid customer must have submitted a draft guarantee, which must be provided in final form upon conclusion of the grid connection agreement. Furthermore, the grid customer must submit a timetable showing that the requirements of maturity gate 3 can be met within 12 months of the start of maturation.
• Maturity gate 3 (before a grid connection agreement can be concluded) means that before Energinet enters into a grid connection agreement, the requirements of gate 3 must be met and verified by The requirements of maturity gate 3 are that the grid customer must provide documentation that the local development plan has been politically approved or that all planning matters have been fully resolved. In addition, a direct line permit must have been obtained, where relevant.

Together, the three maturity gates constitute a step-by-step process in which a project can only advance from screening to maturation and on to a grid connection agreement once the requirements of the preceding gate have been met and verified by Energinet.

 

Timeline and handling of new and ongoing connections

Energinet has announced that no new grid connection agreements will be signed until autumn 2026. This is due to Energinet’s new prioritization model for the processing of electricity grid connections still being under development. At the same time, for many new customers, further expansion of the transmission grid will need to be decided upon and carried out before they can be connected with full grid access. Such expansion requires planning, regulatory processing, procurement and construction works. For very large connections, the time horizon may in several cases be 5-10 years.

Energinet has further stated that its case processing will going forward take place in batches going forward, so that projects can be assessed in relation to one another. According to Energinet, the first batch is expected to be fully processed in the autumn 2026, meaning no decisions on grid connection agreements for larger transmission-grid customers will be made before then.

 

Status of pending applications and agreements already issued

Although no new agreements will be signed until the autumn, projects that are already underway are not all in the same position. In its press release of 27 May 2026, Energinet has outlined how pending applications and projects will be handled, depending on how far the project has progressed in the process:

• Projects that have already been sent a grid connection agreement will, according to Energinet, not be covered by the new prioritization model or the maturity requirements. According to Energinet, this is for reasons of predictability and legal certainty for the project owners who have already received an agreement.
• Projects in the maturation and screening phases will, by contrast, be processed under the new maturity requirements and the new prioritization principles for case handling.

Accordingly, only projects that have already been sent a grid connection agreement are exempt from the new model for larger connections. All other pending applications, regardless of how far they have progressed in the maturation or screening process, will be reassessed under the stricter criteria and will no longer hold their previous place in the queue, as the connection queue is being restarted.  

 

The legality of Energinet’s prioritization and case handling

The fundamental principle of grid access is laid down in Article 6 of the Electricity Market Directive (Directive (EU) 2019/944 of 5 June 2019), under which Member States must ensure that access to the grids is applied objectively and without discrimination between system users.

Article 6 of the Electricity Market Directive has been implemented in Danish law in sections 20 and 24 of the Danish Electricity Supply Act. Under section 20, the collective electricity supply undertakings (i.e. Energinet and the grid companies) must ensure sufficient and efficient transport of electricity, as well as make the necessary transport capacity available and provide access to the transport of electricity in the electricity supply grid. In addition, it follows from section 24(2) that they must not discriminate between grid users.

According to the European Commission’s Guidance on efficient grid connections (C/2025/6703, hereinafter the “Commission Guidance”) (link here), the requirement of non-discrimination does not, however, entail an obligation to apply a “first come, first served” principle. Member States may therefore lay down other prioritization rules, including, for example, grid-friendly, milestone-based or market-based approaches, provided that they are non-discriminatory, transparent and rest on objective, technically and economically justified criteria.

The Danish Energy Agency has additionally published a Guidance for collective electricity supply undertakings on the prioritization of grid connection requests (hereinafter the “Danish Energy Agency Guidance”) (link her). The Danish Energy Agency Guidance states that the prioritization  of grid connection requests may be regarded as part of the grid companies’ statutory duties, and that non-discrimination means that equal grid users in equal circumstances must be treated equally, which does not preclude more differentiated criteria based on objective considerations.

The legal basis for Energinet’s new prioritization  model must therefore be regarded as sufficient, as the departure from the previous “first come, first served” principle is compatible with both Article 6 of the Electricity Market Directive and sections 20 and 24 of the Danish Electricity Supply Act, provided that the criteria are designed and applied in a transparent, objective and non-discriminatory manner.

 

Application of the prioritization  model

While Energinet’s new prioritization model can, in principle, be accommodated within the existing rules in this area, the longtime horizons indicated by Energinet in its announcement – in several cases 5-10 years for the largest connections – nevertheless raise the question whether such long processing times could make the model unlawful in practice.

Section 20 of the Danish Electricity Supply Act requires efficient electricity transport and connection of anyone who so requests, and Article 6 of the Electricity Market Directive requires objective, non-discriminatory grid access. Both presuppose that connection occurs within a reasonable time and that waiting times are handled objectively and transparently.

The Danish Energy Agency has previously prepared a note on the pausing of grid connections (link here). In that context, the Danish Energy Agency stated that Energinet’s temporary pause did not constitute a refusal of grid access but rather concerned the temporary organization of case processing. The Danish Energy Agency thus found that the situation was not, as such, covered by Article 6(2) of the Electricity Market Directive, as there was no denial of access to the collective grid.

It is essential, however, that applications must be neither rejected nor shelved without a clear temporal and substantive delimitation, as this could otherwise qualify as a refusal within the meaning of Article 6(2) of the Electricity Market Directive, which allows transmission or distribution system operators to refuse access where the system lacks the necessary capacity. This provision of the Electricity Market Directive has not been transposed into Danish law and therefore does not apply in Denmark, which means that the collective electricity supply undertakings (the transmission or distribution companies) are not entitled to refuse an undertaking access to the grid on the ground that the collective electricity supply undertaking lacks capacity.

 

Review by the Danish Utility Regulator (Forsyningstilsynet)

However, on 8 June the Danish Utility Regulator announced that it has initiated a review of Energinet’s new prioritization model for larger connections. The review is to clarify whether, under the Danish Electricity Supply Act, Energinet may apply the new prioritization criteria and maturity requirements without prior approval from the Danish Utility Regulator. This is due to the fact the Danish Utility Regulator generally approves terms and conditions for access to the transmission and distribution grids under section 73a(1) and section 76 of the Danish Electricity Supply Act. Further information is available in the Danish Utility Regulator’s article (link here).

 

Consequences for ongoing energy projects that have not yet obtained grid connection

Energinet’s announcement may have significant contractual consequences for businesses whose energy projects have not yet obtained grid connection:

 

Consequences for energy projects with binding project contracts in place

For energy projects that have already entered into contracts for the project, including construction contracts or offtake agreements, but which have not yet entered into a grid connection agreement with Energinet, Energinet’s announcement may have significant consequences.

When the timing of grid connection becomes uncertain – and for very large connections may in several cases lie 5-10 years in the future – project owners thus risk that project agreements already concluded for offtake from the project cannot be performed as anticipated if the output cannot be produced and/or delivered on time due to the later grid connection. For example, a wind turbine owner will not be able to supply electricity to its customers until the wind turbines are connected to the collective electricity grid. If the wind turbine owner has not ensured that the date of the first electricity delivery is conditional on the wind turbine owner obtaining the anticipated grid connection by a specified date, the failure to deliver electricity to the end customer may constitute a breach of contract.

In other situations, the delayed grid connection may have financial consequences for the wind turbine owner, for example if the parties to the offtake contract have agreed that the wind turbine owner will incur liquidated damages for delay (a “penalty”) if deliveries from the wind turbines do not commence by a given date. In addition, the wind turbine owner will lose revenue (lost production) during the period in which the wind turbines cannot generate electricity and sell it to the grid as a result of the delayed grid connection.

Similarly, an investment partner in the project may be left with disappointed expectations. This affects the project economics and may have fatal consequences for the wind turbine owner, as the overall business case for the project is typically calculated on the basis of an expected commissioning date derived from the expected time of grid connection. The wind turbine owner then risks that instalment payments on the project’s debt financing commence before the wind turbine owner generates any actual production from the wind turbines. This can have fatal consequences for the project owner.

Furthermore, the project owner risks that the warranty period for purchased components and systems for the facility expires before the energy facility is commissioned, if the project owner has not ensured that the warranty periods only commence from the time when the overall energy facility achieves commercial production. This may mean that the project owner is unable to claim for defects that only become apparent when the facility is taken into use.

Energinet’s model may thus have major consequences for ongoing projects that have already entered into binding project contracts but have not yet been connected to the grid.

We recommend that affected project owners have their contractual position under the affected project contracts clarified with a view to exploring the possibility of temporarily suspending the contracts, postponing delivery deadlines, extending time limits, etc., in order to avoid the consequences described above. Early dialogue with the contracting parties may open up the possibility of renegotiating the relevant provisions of the contracts. Contract amendments require a written amendment to the agreement, signed by both parties. We recommend that you seek assistance from an adviser to ensure that the amendment is legally binding.

 

Consequences for energy projects that have not yet entered into binding project contracts

For project owners who have not yet entered into binding project contracts for an energy project, it is important to take into account that Energinet’s new model may cause delays to the overall project schedule.

Project owners should therefore ensure that their subcontractor agreements at a minimum provide for (i) flexibility as regards the expected connection horizon, for example by allowing deliveries of components, equipment and plant to be suspended for an extended period; and (ii) that warranty periods for the purchased equipment only commence at the time of commercial commissioning of the facility and/or are very long, in order to allow for the later commissioning date. Such terms have long been used for offshore projects, particularly in the wind turbine industry, but have not necessarily been a market standard in the rest of the energy sector.

Secondly, project owners should consider how delayed or failed grid connection is dealt with contractually vis-à-vis the project’s customers, i.e. in offtake agreements. Project owners should ensure that grid connection is a condition for the commencement of the delivery obligation and/or that failed or delayed grid connection at a minimum confers a right to postpone the commencement of the delivery obligation by a corresponding period – without the project owner incurring liquidated damages for delay. The parties may also consider whether a material delay in grid connection should entitle the parties to demand renegotiation of the agreement.

Finally, businesses should be aware of the derivative consequences of the uncertain time horizon, including for financing agreements, time-limited grants or support schemes, as well as any supply and purchase obligations subject to fixed deadlines.

We recommend that project owners consider which different mechanisms they need in their future project contracts to provide the greatest possible flexibility in relation to delayed grid connection. In general, we recommend a combination of several different contractual mechanisms, as it can be difficult to know precisely which mechanism will become relevant in the future.

 

Need help?

Hulgaard Advokater assists companies in the energy sector in navigating the regulatory framework. If you need assistance, you are welcome to contact us:

Kristine Wagner on tel. 40 80 64 20 or kw@hulgaardadvokater.dk

Marcus Gangdal on tel. 42 13 42 47 or by email mg@hulgaardadvokater.dk

Anna Meldgaard Petersen on tel. 42 13 42 43 or by email amp@hulgaardadvokater.dk

Lisa Ewers on tel. 42 13 42 45 or by email le@hulgaardadvokater.dk