Chucked this into translate for y'all - I think it shows nicely that even Norway, with 100% clean grid power, data centres can still cause massive problems.
In this case, lots of new power demand with little new power production, which will significantly increase our power prices:
![Data centers will require large amounts of power and network capacity
Introduction and summary
Al, cloud services and digitalization require large amounts of power
Data centers are currently among the sectors with the fastest growing demand for power and
network capacity globally. Over the past five years, power consumption for data centers
globally has increased from around 250 TWh in 2020 to nearly 500 TWh in 2025. [1 Over
the next five years, the IEA expects power consumption to double again, to nearly 1 ,OOO TWh
in 2030. [3] In Europe, ENTSO-E expects power demand for data centers to increase from
around 90 TWh in 2024 to over 130 TWh in 2030. By 2035, they estimate that power
consumption could reach 200-250 TWh. [4] In recent years, several Westem countries have
introduced measures to try to manage this development.
Data centers will dominate consumption growth in Norway going
forward Norway is an attractive country for establishing data centers, with a high share of
renewable energy, relatively low power prices, a cool climate and political stability. In 2000,
there was only one data center in Norway. [51 Today, there are over 100 registered data
centers. [6] In 2025 alone, data center power consumption in Norway increased by over 1 TWh,
to 3 TWh. By 2030, we estimate that consumption could increase by a further 5 TWh. The data
center industry is probably the sector with the greatest potential for increasing power
consumption in Norway in the coming years. However, how much growth will actually be is
very uncertain. The growth could also be higher than our estimates.
Lack of network capacity may become the limiting factor for growth. Today, there
are a large number of data center players who want network connectivity.
Statnett's connection register shows 120 cases from data center operators who want to connect
to the transmission grid. In addition, there are operators who want to connect to the regional
grid. In the transmission grid, reserved and queued capac…](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:66lbtw2porscqpmair6mir37/bafkreie7ve5xmrdsiomrvaaaqew4imrb26dyov63bdcqlqa5boyp6wcgv4)
@trulsgulowsen.bsky.socialHer er rapporten fra NVE der det påpekes stor usikkerhet om framtidig kraftforbruk fra datasentre mot 2030. På lengre sikt er det søkt om over 60TWh til datasentre i Norge, som selvsagt er helt urealistisk og umulig, om vi skal ha strøm til andre formål også www.nve.no/nytt-fra-nve...
nve.no
NVE forventer redusert kraftoverskudd, stor usikkerhet om datasentre - NVE
Norge hadde rekordhøy kraftproduksjon og et historisk høyt kraftoverskudd i 2025. Likevel peker utviklingen mot en strammere kraftbalanse de neste årene. E
