A grid connection is usually described as a number of megawatts. The number says little until you know what sits behind it: whether the load can be cut, by whom, and what the customer gets in return. Three words do most of the work in the Nordic rules, firm, non-firm and conditional, and the last one means two different things depending on the country.
Firm: the connection without conditions
Norwegian regulation lets a grid company and a customer agree on a connection with conditions for disconnection or for limits on consumption. The ordinary connection is the one without those conditions, and industry shorthand calls it firm. The rules themselves speak of conditions, not of firm and non-firm, so it's worth checking which one a given document means.
Firm isn't unlimited either. Since 1 January 2026, NEM lets a grid company, in special cases and after a concrete assessment, lower a customer's maximum permitted power. The criteria have to be in writing and available to customers, the customer gets written notice in reasonable time and a right to comment, and the notice says that a disagreement can be taken to the energy regulator.
The same date brought a transparency rule. Grid companies have to set and publish the principles they use to judge whether a connection is operationally sound, keep to objective and non-discriminatory ones, document each case, and show a customer the assessment that concerns them when asked, apart from anything covered by confidentiality.
Non-firm in Norway: the conditions are in the agreement
Under NEM, no compensation is paid to the customer for entering such an agreement, or for being disconnected or limited under it. Statnett describes what that looks like. A customer connected on special conditions will typically be the first to be disconnected during faults or disturbances, and the last to be reconnected. The customer pays for the equipment and studies the agreement needs.
Statnett also stresses that entering into these agreements is voluntary for all parties, and that they exist to allow a faster connection where there's no capacity on ordinary terms. In its published queue, a project with capacity reserved on special terms also stands in the ordinary queue.
Sweden: a recommendation, not a rule
Svenska kraftnät's recommendations to grid companies, from January 2024, are not binding, and the authority says so itself. They define a conditional agreement as one where the grid company or the connecting party can limit the load or the power fed in, either by an active disconnection started by the grid company or by the connected party throttling its own load or feed-in.
The recommendation is that grid companies look into conditional agreements and offer them where possible, to use the network better and bridge capacity limits. Whether a given company does is still up to the company.
Finland: the same word, a different promise
In June 2025, Fingrid added a conditional connection agreement next to its traditional one. Fingrid describes it in terms of timing and permits, and doesn't say anything about cutting the load. The model is meant for very large industrial consumption projects with long permit processes, and the agreement can be made once the customer has the EIA conclusion report, has started the environmental permit process and has bought or leased the land, and the grid investments are feasible within a reasonable time. Fingrid's starting point stays the same: connection capacity is only agreed for a project once its permits have entered into legal force.
So, going by how Fingrid describes it, a Finnish conditional connection is about where the project stands, and a Norwegian one about what the grid needs on the day. A reader who treats them as the same product will misread both.
Europe is having the same argument
The IEA made the point for Europe as a whole in November 2025: non-firm connections, where users accept possible curtailment under specific conditions, would help accelerate connections where the grid is constrained. A load that can flex has something to trade for speed. A load that can't has less to offer.
Where Pure Core sits
We're acquiring capacity, and when we read a connection we ask what it's made of: whether the load can be cut, who decides, what happens if the project runs late, and what is still to be paid. The megawatt figure comes after that. powered land acquisition is where to start if you hold a site with power.
Quick answers
What is a non-firm grid connection?
A connection where the grid company can disconnect the load or limit it under agreed conditions. In Norway no compensation is paid for those cuts, and the agreement is voluntary for all parties.
Is a conditional connection agreement the same as a non-firm one?
Not always. In Norway and in Svenska kraftnät's recommendation, the conditions are about cutting or limiting the load. Fingrid describes its conditional agreement in Finland in terms of permits and project progress.
Can a firm connection be reduced in Norway?
In special cases, yes. Since 1 January 2026, NEM lets a grid company lower a customer's maximum permitted power after a concrete assessment, with written notice and a right to comment.
Related: Powered Land, Powered Shell, White Space: Plain Definitions, The Nordic Grids Side by Side and powered land in the Nordics.
Sources
All pages opened and read on 17 October 2026, except the IEA commentary, read on 13 October.
- Statnett, "When grid companies and direct customers are going to connect to the power grid" (English, last updated 20.12.2024): connection on special conditions, order of disconnection, no compensation, costs, voluntary agreements. statnett.no
- Statnett, "Statistikk om tilknytningssaker" (Norwegian): projects with reserved capacity on special terms also stand in the ordinary queue. statnett.no
- Lovdata, Forskrift om nettregulering og energimarkedet (NEM), FOR-2019-10-24-1413, § 3-2 (connection with conditions for disconnection or limitation, no compensation), § 3-7 (principles for operational soundness assessments, in force 1 January 2026) and § 3-8 (lowering a customer's maximum permitted power, in force 1 January 2026). lovdata.no
- Svenska kraftnät, "Svenska kraftnäts rekommendationer till nätföretag gällande hantering av anslutningsärenden", 31 January 2024: not binding, definition of conditional agreements, recommendation to offer them. svk.se
- Fingrid, "New conditional connection agreement model introduced to support grid connection and investment decision processes in large industrial projects", 26 June 2025. fingrid.fi
- IEA, "Overcoming energy constraints is key to delivering on Europe's data centre goals", commentary, November 2025: non-firm connections with accepted curtailment. iea.org
General information, not legal advice. Rules and pages as read on 17 October 2026.