The government should change its stance on data centers
If we can offer the industry speed and predictability, we can demand more in return.
AI-generated illustration from Gemini.
Main moments
The capacity of the power grid is maxed out, and data centers account for the majority of the demand. It is time for a new policy, but this week's restrictive measures could cause us to miss out on a valuable opportunity.
The government is proposing a licensing requirement for data centers. This means that every data center project, in addition to waiting for years in a connection queue, must be approved by a national authority based on its societal benefit.
There is a risk that we are squandering an important strategic and economic opportunity for Norway.
Data centers are a bottleneck for enormous AI investments. Wealthy companies with a high willingness to pay are prepared to pay much more for data centers than they do today – as long as they can build quickly. For developers, one year of regulatory waiting time costs more than a doubling of the electricity price.
If we can offer the industry speed and predictability, we can demand more in return. A fast track for establishing data centers, where we auction off rapid establishment on sites that place little strain on the power grid, is a good opportunity. With the auction proceeds, we can invest in grid expansion and more power production. Municipalities can choose for themselves whether they want to participate, and they can receive a share of the revenue.
Such a solution still provides control over how many data centers we want to build and where we should build them. The fast track thus achieves everything one would want with a licensing requirement, but gets the maximum out of the data centers we actually want.
And if AI development continues to deliver, we already have a system in place that secures us a share of the super-profits.
Data centers are important beyond value creation. They give us bargaining power in the AI value chain. If we are proactive, we can secure a grip on both the influence and the value creation in the new economy. Just as we did with oil.
It is not too late to change course.
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