I would guess some/all of the theoretical watts saved is that 8mm lower stack allows you to drop your entire bike fit (seatpost/handlebar stack) by 8mm with associated aerodynamic benefits.
drop your entire bike fit (seatpost/handlebar stack) by 8mm
But it's not an 8mm drop, it's 8mm stack from the axis to the sole of your shoe. If you were already obsessed with low pedal stack you'd be using 4-bolt Speedplay, which are 8.5mm from axis to shoe sole. It's a lot of fuss over 0.5mm 🙂
I would guess some/all of the theoretical watts saved is that 8mm lower stack allows you to drop your entire bike fit (seatpost/handlebar stack) by 8mm with associated aerodynamic benefits.