Transelectrica is implementing Dynamic Line Rating technology on dozens of overhead power lines in Romania, a digital solution that allows the grid’s transmission capacity to be increased by up to 25% without building new infrastructure, said Bogdan Leu, Research & Innovation Project Manager at Transelectrica.

“If you look at the entire network and compare installing digital systems to increase capacity at the energy system level with building a line from scratch, it’s completely incomparable. We can transmit more electricity over the same wires if we do this in a smart way,” he said, at the DigitALL 2026 conference organized by Energynomics in Bucharest.

The project, funded by the Modernization Fund, currently covers 23 power lines and is set to be expanded to include another 25 systems. The total cost of the first phase amounts to approximately 5 million euros, which is a fraction of the cost of a new power line, which can exceed this amount by 10 to 20 times.

The technology works by installing sensors on high-voltage lines that monitor weather conditions (temperature, wind, humidity) in real time and transmit the data to algorithms that automatically calculate how much the lines can be overloaded under favorable conditions.

The initiative comes amid growing pressure on the national grid, driven by the large number of renewable energy projects seeking grid connection, and aligns with the European goal of making the energy system fully AI-enabled by 2035.

The DigitALL 2026 conference was organized by Energynomics, with the support of our partners: CBRE Romania, Eaton Electric, EnergoBit, KSTAR New Energy, WALDEVAR Energy, and WTW Romania.