Israel’s power grid is struggling to manage the influx of data center projects seeking a power connection.
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The Israeli Electricity Authority announced that it is freezing the processing of new applications to connect data centers to the power grid for the next 140 days. Described as an “emergency brake,” the pause is designed to ensure that the system does not make connection commitments it may be unable to fulfill in the future.
The freeze is expected to last until early December and will impact all data centers with a capacity of 8MW or more.
According to the Agency, the country’s transmission operator, Israel Independent System Operator (NOGA), had received 19GW of new requests from data center operators seeking a grid connection within two months. In total, the country now has roughly 27GW of pending data center grid applications, nearly triple its average baseline consumption.
