Transmission infrastructure is becoming an increasingly important investment theme as renewable deployment, electrification and system flexibility requirements continue to grow across Europe. While regulated TSOs will remain central to network planning and operation, the scale of future investment requirements is creating opportunities for alternative delivery and financing models. The UK’s CATO framework represents an important test case for introducing competition into onshore transmission and broadening access to private capital. However, regulatory fragmentation, political sensitivity and system coordination requirements are likely to limit widespread adoption across Europe. Can competitive transmission models meaningfully scale across Europe? They are likely to scale selectively rather than universally. The most probable outcome is a hybrid model in which regulated TSOs retain responsibility for core network planning and operation, while competitive frameworks are applied to clearly defined transmission assets where private capital can com