Denmark Scraps First-Come Grid Queue to Fast-Track Priority Projects
Copenhagen will let grid operators select nationally strategic projects for preferential access, abandoning a queue overwhelmed by speculative applications.
Denmark's government on Monday (2026-06-29) said it will authorise grid operators to select projects of national importance for preferential grid access, scrapping a system that had become unworkable as connection applications surged in recent years. The existing first-come, first-served rule rewards speed of filing over strategic merit, and operators will now have a mandate to channel scarce connection capacity toward projects judged most important for national energy security.5
Grid bottlenecks, not generation capacity, have become the binding constraint on Europe's clean-power buildout. Copenhagen's shift reflects a broader reckoning: when demand for grid connection outpaces infrastructure, queue position determines winners, not project quality.5,3
Europe's grid operators are committing substantial sums to ease the underlying shortage. Italy's Terna is investing €18bn between 2024 and 2028. France's RTE plans €100bn between 2025 and 2040. TenneT, the largest TSO in Germany and the sole operator in the Netherlands, is targeting €200bn in spending by 2034. ENTSO-E, the European TSO regulator, puts the continental total required to meet EU electrification goals by 2050 at €800bn.3
The scale of applications dwarfs available capacity. One European market has accumulated 350 GW-worth of grid connection requests, far exceeding what existing infrastructure can absorb. Speculative or underdeveloped projects can hold queue positions for years, displacing viable investment. Denmark's managed-allocation system is designed to break that cycle.3
Strategic considerations are shaping the reform's urgency. A pioneering offshore energy island linking Denmark and Germany has faced mounting cost uncertainty and security risks in the Baltic Sea. With subsea infrastructure newly politicised after the Nord Stream sabotage in September 2022, a queue system that can preference nationally significant connections gains additional relevance for Copenhagen.1
Regional dynamics complicate the surrounding environment. Sweden's energy minister Ebba Busch froze Swedish investment in cross-border power interconnectors in May, including a 1 GW link to Denmark, in a dispute over a European Commission proposal to direct 25% of congestion revenues to pan-European infrastructure. Sweden has so far won few concessions from Brussels on that position, according to a leaked document seen by Montel on Thursday (2026-06-11).4
The two decisions pull in opposite directions. Denmark is streamlining access for priority projects while Sweden is slowing new cross-border capacity investment. Unless the revenue dispute is resolved, additions to Denmark-Sweden transmission capacity may be delayed regardless of how efficiently Copenhagen manages its own queue.4
Southeastern Europe faces its own variant of the same problem. ACER, the EU energy agency, urged grid operators in the region to accelerate upgrades and strengthen cross-border coordination after significant power price spikes in 2024, identifying inadequate grid investment as the underlying driver.2
German power was trading at €102.32 a megawatt-hour on Monday (2026-06-29), up 4.3% on the session. ICE Endex TTF front-month held at €42.11. High power prices reinforce the financial case for new generation, feeding the volume of grid connection requests and sustaining precisely the queue pressure that Denmark is now trying to manage differently.
ENTSO-E's €800bn figure covers financial commitments, not permits. Grid expansion in Europe consistently stalls on planning and permitting rather than on capital. Denmark's reform targets a different chokepoint: not whether projects get funded, but which projects gain grid access first when the queue is full.3
How grid operators define "national interest" will be critical. A rules-based framework would accelerate the shift toward renewables and strategic infrastructure. A vague mandate creates scope for political discretion. The Danish energy regulator's design of that criteria is now the question that neighbouring governments with similarly overwhelmed queues will be watching closely.5