French data center grid connection glossary

The terms of data center grid connection in France, explained simply: RTE procedure, contracts, the grid and recent schemes. For the full picture, see which French grid document actually secures a site.

Exploratory study · PTF · Queue entry · Annual review · First ready, first served · Connection agreement · Reserved versus firm capacity · Operating agreement · CART · TURPE · PTF transfer · Use it or lose it · HTA and HTB · Primary substation · Customer substation · The 40 MW threshold · Reinforcement · Grid date · Grid-back schedule · Deadline register · HTB3 fast-track procedure · Project of major national interest · S3REnR · Portail Flexibilités · Documentation technique de référence

PROCEDURE AND QUEUE

Exploratory study (étude exploratoire): Optional study delivered by RTE in about six weeks: a first view of feasibility, cost and timeline. It does not bind RTE and reserves no capacity. Read our article.

PTF (proposition technique et financière): RTE's formal connection offer: solution, works, cost, indicative timeline. The project only enters the queue once the developer accepts it.

Queue entry: Requires the PTF specific conditions signed without reservation, proof of land control (a promise to sell is often enough at first), the first instalment, and evidence of project progress or a flat fee of €1,000 per MW.

Annual review: Every year, on the anniversary of queue entry, the project must again prove progress (or pay the €1,000 per MW fee, at most twice) and, if land control rested on a promise, show it still holds it.

First ready, first served: Reform of RTE's queue, consulted on in February 2026: capacity would be reallocated to the most advanced projects rather than the earliest ones. Expected to apply from 1 January 2027.

Connection agreement (convention de raccordement): The contract that follows the PTF: scope, cost, schedule and, where relevant, capacity steps. The developer accepts it by signing and paying the advance on works set out in its payment schedule.

Reserved versus firm capacity: A queue position reserves capacity, but the power actually available depends on grid works and reinforcements, sometimes in tranches, with possible operating limitations in between. The useful question is not "is the PTF signed?" but "which MW, and when?".

CONTRACTS AND TARIFFS

Operating agreement (convention d'exploitation): Contract setting the operating rules of the connection between the grid operator and the site.

CART (transmission network access contract): Contract governing the operating site's use of the transmission network: metering, subscribed power, access charges. Distinct from the PTF and the connection agreement, which cover the connection itself.

TURPE (network use tariff): Tariff set by the French regulator CRE, paid by users for the use of transmission and distribution networks. For a data center it depends notably on subscribed power and load profile.

PTF transfer: Since 29 June 2024, a PTF can only be transferred to a company in the same group as the applicant, through an amendment signed with RTE. Buying a project with its connection in practice means buying the company that holds the PTF.

Use it or lose it: Article L. 342-24 of the French Energy Code allows RTE to reduce the capacity of a site that durably draws less than contracted. For agreements signed since 1 August 2025, two options: full capacity from the start, or a stepped ramp-up over up to ten years.

THE GRID

HTA and HTB: Voltage levels. HTA (1 to 50 kV, usually 20 kV) is Enedis's distribution network; HTB (above 50 kV: 63, 90, 150, 225 and 400 kV) is RTE's transmission network.

Primary substation (poste source): Substation linking the transmission network (HTB) to the distribution network (HTA). Its available capacity governs HTA connections.

Customer substation (poste de livraison): The site's own substation at the connection point, paid for by the developer. For a large data center, often a private HTB substation with its own transformers.

The 40 MW threshold: Above roughly 40 MW, a project is generally connected by RTE at HTB rather than by Enedis at HTA. Below it, it may still need RTE if the primary substation is saturated.

Reinforcement: Grid operator works (new transformer, line, substation) needed to accommodate the requested power, sometimes far from the site. They can condition the full-power date and need their own permits.

PLANNING

Grid date: The date when the grid can actually deliver the project's target capacity, step by step. Neither the PTF date nor the end of construction: the pivot date of the schedule. See the Readiness Manager.

Grid-back schedule: A schedule built backwards from the grid date: land option duration, permit filings, equipment orders, consultation, financing, ramp-up.

Deadline register: A table tracking everything that can cost a project time or capacity: annual queue review, capacity steps, land option expiry, appeal periods, manufacturing slots.

SCHEMES AND RULES

HTB3 fast-track procedure: RTE procedure for very large loads connected to the 400 kV network on sites identified by the State, targeting connection in three to four years. It requires a bank guarantee of 10% of extension works, then a down payment of 30% of total cost.

Project of major national interest: Status open to certain data centers under the economic simplification law of 27 May 2026. The prefect can move such projects up the queue where congestion exceeds five years, a transitional power until 10 March 2027.

S3REnR: Regional plan for connecting renewable generation, with a share paid by producers. It does not apply to consumption sites such as data centers.

Portail Flexibilités: Joint Enedis and RTE platform piloted since 1 September 2026 in eight southern French departments, bringing local flexibility tenders together. See our storage page.

Documentation technique de référence (DTR): RTE's published rules, including the connection request procedure approved by CRE. The version applicable to a project depends on the date of its request.

Sources: RTE (connection procedure, Bilan prévisionnel 2025, 2025 annual results), CRE, French Energy Code, SDES, Orrick analysis published by DatacenterDynamics (August 2026). Simplified definitions for information; applicable rules depend on each project.

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