Energinet will scrap its first-come-first-served principle from 2026 to speed up the connection of the most advanced solar, wind, battery and large electricity-using projects to the transmission grid.
Screening and permitting backlogs have grown as more developers and major consumers seek grid access, and Energinet said it will instead prioritise projects that meet specific maturity requirements and make best use of the existing network.
Kim Willerslev Jakobsen, director for system responsibility at Energinet, said: “The first-come-first-served principle is no longer beneficial, neither for the green transition nor for the plant owners.”
Under the new model, projects will only enter the screening queue if they can document minimum maturity, including the possibility of acquiring required land and providing a timeline covering local planning and environmental permits.
Eligible projects will then be placed in priority groups based on how well they use existing grid capacity and whether a municipal local plan proposal has been adopted.
Projects further along in local authority processes or requiring less grid reinforcement will be prioritised ahead of less advanced schemes, Energinet said.
Stakeholders can submit input on the model until 1 January, with implementation set for 1 February 2026.
Energinet added that the model is a first step and will be followed by further measures to streamline the route to grid connection, while transmission expansion driven by distribution companies will remain unaffected.