Legal Alerts/22 Sep 2026

New Priority Rules for Grid Connections in Finland

The Finnish Government has published a draft amendment to the Electricity Market Act on 18 September 2026.

First-come, first-served and recently introduced first-ready, first-served may be out for most new grid connections in Finland. What does the new priority system mean for your project timeline?

The proposed amendment would establish rules for determining priority among projects seeking a grid connection. Projects will be divided into four groups as described later in this alert. The new rules would apply to electricity consumption sites, storage facilities, and capacity requests between network operators. Where a connection serves both an electricity consumption site or an electricity storage facility and a power plant, the applicability of the rules is to be determined based on the connection's main purpose.

It is proposed that the amendment should enter into force already on 1 January 2027. The priority rules would apply to projects that have applied for but have not entered into a grid connection agreement by 1 January 2027, as well as to capacity increases within existing projects.

The highest priority group, consisting mainly of small-scale connectors, would, as now, be served on a first-come, first-served basis year-round. Projects that fall into the other priority groups will be grouped into approval processes taking place every six months, with the first capacity allocation unlikely to take place until December 2027.

Albeit it is noted that the amendment will not change the grid operator’s obligation to connect or its obligation to improve the network, we note that the amendment if taken forward, may in the aggregate create a bottleneck that could have a significant impact on the broader Finnish economic outlook. Access to grid will be slowed down and become increasingly complex also in areas where no capacity scarcity exists.

Priority groups

The proposed amendment would introduce four priority groups:

Priority group 1

electricity consumption site, other than a data centre, with a power intake capacity of no more than 3 MW;
critical electricity consumption sites;
data centre with a power intake capacity of no more than 1 MW;
electricity storage facility with a capacity of no more than 100 kVA;
electricity storage facility that is connected to a power plant complex and that is not charged with electricity from the electricity network.

Priority group 2

electricity consumption site, other than a data centre, with a power intake capacity of more than 3 MW but no more than 100 MW;
electricity consumption site, other than a data centre, with a power intake capacity of more than 100 MW + with flexible electricity production capacity under a flexibility commitment of at least 80% of the peak output of the electricity consumption site;
data centre with a power intake capacity from the electricity network of more than 1 MW but no more than 10 MW;
data centre with a power intake capacity from the electricity network of more than 10 MW, together with electricity production capacity under a flexibility commitment of at least 80% of the peak output of the data centre.

Priority group 3

electricity consumption site, other than a data centre with a power intake capacity from the electricity network of more than 100 MW, where the applicant has not made a flexibility commitment;
data centre with a power intake capacity from the electricity network of more than 10 MW, where the applicant has not made a flexibility commitment.

Priority group 4

electricity storage facility that does not belong to priority group 1.

Priority group allocation improvements

A party seeking a connection may improve its position in the priority procedure by making a flexibility commitment or a production commitment in its application. The commitment must be valid for the entire period the grid connection is used.

“Under a flexibility commitment, the applicant would undertake to offer flexible production capacity on an organised marketplace, either as electricity production or as demand-side flexibility at the electricity consumption site. The capacity would need to be capable of producing electricity without interruption, would need to be offered continuously, and its output would need to be at least 10% of the peak output of the electricity consumption site.
Under a production commitment, the applicant would undertake that at least 50% of the estimated annual electricity consumption of the electricity consumption site is covered by electricity produced at a power plant commissioned no more than 36 months before the commissioning of the electricity consumption site and located, for the purposes of transmission constraints on the main grid, in the same area as the electricity consumption site.”

Order of priority within priority groups

In addition, in the event of scarcity, projects in priority groups 2 and 3 are placed in order of priority within the priority group based on the following criteria:

location of the grid connection, a project connecting to an area where capacity is available obtains a better position;
flexibility commitment, an application containing a commitment covering a larger share obtains a better position;
production commitment, an application containing a commitment covering a larger share obtains a better position.

Within priority group 4, the order of priority is determined by location.

Obligations to connect and develop the network

The proposed amendment explicitly states that the priority order does not release network operators from their connection obligation. Under the current Electricity Market Act, network operators must offer capacity to applicants within a reasonable time. Notably, the draft amendment itself acknowledges that the priority order would affect what constitutes a reasonable time for providing capacity to parties in groups 2–4.

Our team is available to advise on the implications for your specific projects.