A lack of grid capacity is emerging as a critical bottleneck in many regions, driving higher levels of congestion and slowing the deployment of new electricity generation, storage and demand. Grid connection queues have reached record levels worldwide. In response, this year’s report examines the range of measures that regulators and system operators are adopting to “move fast and connect things”: enabling more capacity to be integrated more quickly through regulatory reforms and deployment of technologies that can deliver rapid grid upgrades. Greater demand-side participation and the expansion of utility-scale battery storage are additional levers for enhancing system flexibility and managing congestion, which are addressed in detail in the subsequent chapter on Flexibility.

This chapter on grids also includes a dedicated section on the synchronisation of the Baltic power system in February 2025, a landmark technical and political achievement.

Accelerating the build out of grids is a key imperative as the new era of electricity evolves around the world. Over 2 500 GW of renewable, large‑load and storage projects are currently stalled in grid queues worldwide. With grid investment lagging far behind that for generation projects, many power systems already face rising congestion‑related curtailment. Meeting electricity demand through 2030 will require annual grid investment to increase by approximately 50% by 2030 from today’s USD 400 billion, alongside a scale‑up in grid supply chains and more effective management of work force challenges.

The urgency becomes especially apparent given the mismatch in the time required to plan and build new grids compared to generation projects or data centres. Planning, permitting and completing new grid infrastructure can take anywhere from 5 to 15 years, whereas new builds on the supply and demand side are much faster at 1-5 years for renewables projects such as solar PV and wind, 1-3 years for data centres, and 1-2 years for EV charging infrastructure. At the same time, prices for key grid components have nearly doubled over the past five years.

While ramping up investment in the construction of new grids is crucial and needs to accelerate, significant additional hosting capacity1 can be unlocked in the near term by using existing grids more efficiently. This is especially relevant, as grids are built to serve peak demand, but often have substantial unused capacity during non‑peak periods.

Complementary measures, such as grid‑enhancing technologies and regulatory adjustments, can unlock near‑term grid capacity, delivering net system-wide economic benefits. Together, they could free enough hosting capacity to connect between 1 200-1 600 GW of advanced‑stage projects currently stuck in queues worldwide. About 750-900 GW could be enabled through conditional non‑firm connection agreements, with the remainder unlocked by grid‑enhancing solutions such as dynamic line rating, advanced power‑flow control, and various other options, as well as more extensive upgrades such as reconductoring and voltage uprating.

A non‑firm connection agreement is an arrangement between a system operator and the grid user (such as a generator, consumer, or storage facility) that typically enables faster grid access, but with the condition that the user’s output or consumption may be limited at certain times. This built‑in flexibility helps unlock additional hosting capacity by allowing more assets to connect before major grid reinforcements are completed.

Beyond non‑firm connections, standard congestion‑management tools and robust regulatory frameworks that support the co‑location of multiple power plants and battery energy storage systems (BESS) at a single connection point can further ease grid constraints. By enabling several assets to share existing infrastructure, these measures help bring more projects into operation in a timely manner.

In parallel, grid capacity auctions, stricter requirements for obtaining and retaining grid capacity, and faster processing of connection requests can contribute to more effective management of grid connection queues. These mechanisms help ensure that scarce capacity is allocated efficiently, prioritising the highest‑value and most deliverable projects while reallocating capacity from projects unlikely to proceed.

In addition to targeted regulatory and policy measures, unlocking the full potential of today’s power networks will increasingly depend on the deployment of advanced grid‑enhancing technologies. These solutions can increase grid flexibility, ensure greater reliability and help reduce overall investment costs by relieving different types of binding operational constraints and improving utilisation of existing assets. Grid-enhancing technologies such as dynamic line rating (DLR), dynamic transformer rating (DTR), advanced power flow control (APFC), topology optimisation (TO), and storage as a transmission asset (SATA) will also play a key role in expanding existing capacity. In addition, more substantial upgrades to grid systems such as reconductoring and voltage uprating, can significantly increase the capacity of existing transmission infrastructure.

Alongside updating regulatory frameworks, significant grid capacity can be also unlocked in the near term by applying various grid-enhancing technologies. In addition, upgrades like reconductoring and voltage uprating can significantly increase the capacity of existing transmission infrastructure. These solutions can enhance grid flexibility, ensure greater reliability and help reduce overall investment costs, and are already being applied across regions. We estimate that the implementation and rollout of these grid technology solutions globally could unlock sufficient capacity to connect 450-700 GW of projects at advanced stages in connection queues, assuming all other factors remain unchanged.

Most of the technology solutions described below can be deployed on the grid with relatively short lead times, replacing traditional grid investments or serving as temporary measures aligning short-term needs with long-term grid planning. While potential capacity gains are presented individually by technology, benefits cannot be stacked additively, as several solutions address the same thermal, voltage or congestion constraints. Realising these capacity gains also requires integrating these technologies into both strategic grid planning and operational planning processes, supported by appropriate regulatory frameworks that incentivize grid optimization and operational procedures that enable system operators to leverage the additional capacity effectively.