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The International Energy Agency’s report published on 21 September 2026 estimates that dynamic ratings, topology optimisation and advanced power-flow control could enable up to 330 GW of generation, storage and demand to connect without network reinforcement. This is modelled potential, not capacity already commissioned. It is also a mixture of supply, storage and load, rather than 330 GW of new generating plants.
The report records at least 1,700 GW of advanced-stage renewable projects and 600 GW of utility-scale batteries awaiting connections in 2025. These queues describe different technologies and project stages; they do not establish how much will ultimately be built. The figures nevertheless make the connection process an important part of project economics alongside equipment procurement.
Dynamic ratings use actual conditions to assess thermal headroom. A windy, cool period can allow a conductor to carry more current, but the complete circuit still has transformer, voltage, protection and stability limits. Topology changes and power-flow control can redistribute loading where alternative paths exist. Their gains cannot simply be added if several tools release the same underlying headroom.
For a developer, the practical question is whether extra network access overlaps with the hours when its plant can produce or its customer needs power. An intermittent connection allowance is different from a firm entitlement. A connection study should specify availability, curtailment rules, contingency performance and the cost of required monitoring before a financing model treats the benefit as revenue.
The reviewed public chapters provide no October copper quotation, delivered transformer price or project-specific shipping charge. Those costs require dated supplier evidence. Wellficent’s reading is that operators can compare targeted digital expenditure with reinforcement while retaining physical expansion where it is necessary; the report does not justify a universal saving for every corridor.