Capacity Maps

A capacity map (kapacitetskarta) is a published, indicative picture of where a grid has room for new consumption, production or storage. Its purpose is to let an applicant see where a connection is more or less realistic before sending a formal request, instead of applying in several places to find out. It is the first of the information duties that grid companies now carry for connection capacity, and the concept reaches from Svenska kraftnät’s national map down to individual distribution companies’ own pages.

The legal duty

• 27 a § förordning (2022:585) om elnätsverksamhet (in force 1 July 2026, added by SFS 2026:711): a distribution company must publish information on available capacity for new connections to its local or regional grid. The information must be on the company’s website, updated at least quarterly, “transparent, clear and geographically detailed”, and include (a) the capacity that is the subject of connection requests, (b) what possibility there may be of connection under an agreement with conditions limiting and controlling feed-in or withdrawal (a conditional agreement, see Villkorade Avtal), and (c) the basis for calculating available capacity. 27 b § requires the company first to investigate what measures are needed to protect information it may not disclose by law. 27 c § lets Ei issue further regulations. (Source - Förordning (2022-585) om elnätsverksamhet)
• EU and later law. The duty implements Art. 31.3 of the electricity market directive as amended by Directive (EU) 2024/1711, and the same wording moves into the electricity market act (6 kap. 16 §) and the elsystemförordning (6 kap. 6-8 §§) on 1 January 2027, when the 2022:585 ordinance is repealed. (Source - Ei Inspel Tillgänglig Kapacitet (2026), Source - Elsystemförordning (2026-1522))
• Open question. Ei invited input in September 2026 (deadline 7 October) on whether further föreskrifter or guidance are needed, with possible dialogue meetings in the autumn. (Source - Ei Inspel Tillgänglig Kapacitet (2026))
• Before the duty. Ei proposed in March 2024 that Svenska kraftnät develop a national map and that companies with shortages and queues publish queue status and available capacity “for example through a capacity map”, noting that Swedish companies then had no obligation to publish one while the EU texts were expected to require it. (Source - Ei R2024-05 Informationsdelning Anslutning (2024))

What has been published

None of the three distribution-company sources says that its product is the company’s way of meeting 27 a §, and the products cover different parts of what the rule lists: Vattenfall’s gives an availability indication, E.ON’s gives queue volume, Ellevio’s gives narrative assessments with a connection-case table. Whether and how each meets the rule’s four content points was not assessed here.

Design questions the sources raise

• Indicative, not a decision. Every product states that it is guidance and that a formal request is needed. Rejlers, a consultancy that sells such maps, puts it as “where might I have grounds to proceed?” versus “is power guaranteed for my connection?” and advises stating clearly when interpolation is used. (Source - Rejlers Kapacitetskartor för Elnätsföretag (2026))
• The grid above. Ei noted in 2024 that a map may show good capacity in an area while a connection still takes long because the local company cannot secure a higher subscription from the regional or transmission grid. Ellevio’s pages show this chain explicitly: its Halland and Bohuslän areas depend on Vattenfall’s regional grid and on Svenska kraftnät. (Source - Ei R2024-05 Informationsdelning Anslutning (2024), Source - Ellevio Elnätskapacitet Regionnät (2026))
• Calculation basis. Grid companies told Ei that it is hard to define how available capacity is calculated and shown; 27 a § now requires the basis to be published. (Source - Ei R2024-05 Informationsdelning Anslutning (2024))
• Publication model. Rejlers argues for a separate public information model built from NIS, connection-case and planning data and approved before each quarterly publication, instead of publishing internal data directly, which also handles the 27 b § confidentiality check. This is a supplier’s view. (Source - Rejlers Kapacitetskartor för Elnätsföretag (2026))
• Granularity. The existing products run from counties (Svenska kraftnät) through municipalities (E.ON) and regional nodes (Vattenfall) to regional areas (Ellevio); there is no common format yet.
• Queue transparency. Ei recommended that companies with queues publish queue status and queued power; Svenska kraftnät’s statistics and E.ON’s compass do this in different forms.
• Conditional connections. 27 a § point 4 b ties the duty to the possibility of connection under a conditional agreement, linking capacity maps to Flexible Connection Agreements.

Other countries

Ei’s 2024 survey said 14 of 16 countries in a Eurelectric study had some capacity map, usually run by the transmission company. Fingrid’s map shows estimated possible connection and ten-year planned investments but not distribution networks; in Norway Glitre Nett’s map distinguishes conventional capacity from capacity under conditional agreements and gives a rough queue estimate, and the WattApp service of the Elbits cooperation covers many network companies; Energinet in Denmark runs a map for new renewable production updated annually. (Source - Ei R2024-05 Informationsdelning Anslutning (2024))

Relation to the connection reform

Svenska kraftnät’s April 2026 proposal for an Anvisningssystem envisages a formal capacity map at the level of kapacitetszoner and connection points, at 5- and 10-year horizons, for which the county-level map is a precursor. See also Svk Transmission Grid Planning and Distribution Network Development Plan, whose plans are the stated basis of E.ON’s compass (2027-2036) and Ellevio’s pages (2025-2034); the next plans are due 31 December 2026. (Source - Svk Kapacitetskarta 2026)

Not to be confused with Ei’s planned map service on grid expansion (January 2027), which shows line length, transformer capacity, substations and cost per local-grid operator rather than available capacity (Source - Ei R2026-09 Redovisning av Elnätsutbyggnad (2026)).

Data gaps

• Whether Ei will issue föreskrifter under 27 c § on the content or format of the capacity information, and what comes out of the September-October 2026 input round
• Which distribution companies had published capacity information by the 1 July 2026 start and in what form; only four companies’ products have been read, and the sources do not say whether they meet each content point of 27 a §