The “Evolution and Development of the National Electricity System” project aims to develop studies, tools and methodologies to support the management, evolution, development and innovation of the electricity system, in order to respond to the increasingly pressing demands for cost-effectiveness of supply, safety, reliability and environmental sustainability of electricity grids.

Scenario studies were carried out considering both the impact of the energy trends presented in the World Energy Outlook (WEO) at the national level and the implementation of strategies to adapt to climate change, correlating the electricity demand forecast with the changed weather conditions. Scenarios for 2020 have also been developed, based on the amount of energy generated from non-programmable renewable sources or imported energy, and the demand for energy on the grid.

Studies and experiments have been carried out to increase the flexibility and efficiency of thermoelectric plants, and tools have been developed to provide real-time information on the operation of dispatchable generation plants, to adapt their performance to continuous load variations, while optimizing their efficiency and minimizing the occurrence of failures due to higher thermo-mechanical stresses.

In the area of operational security, probabilistic methods have been studied which, taking into account the response uncertainties of the ICT systems, and operational and forecasting uncertainties through probabilistic power flow techniques, provide indications to the TSOs on the corrective or preventive control actions to be implemented, evaluate the system reserve requirements, the net transfer capacity between areas, the impact of flexible thermal load management on grid frequency regulation and power flows in the presence of NPRS. Other studies concerned the phenomena of ice and snow accumulation on power lines and the safety of hydroelectric infrastructures (in terms of risk analysis and fluid dynamic analysis using the SPH technique, as well as structural behavior in the event of earthquakes or aging phenomena).

The development of tools for planning the expansion of the transmission network has been addressed using probabilistic modeling tools that take into account the random production of NPRS and the use of storage systems. The environmental and social aspects of grid expansion have also been taken into account and are being further integrated into the relevant decision-making processes. The studies are extended to the European context as they aim to lay the foundations for a modular and robust expansion of the electricity grid through a highway system, and aim to achieve a competitive energy market on a pan-European scale to ensure sustainable energy for Europe at competitive prices.

The project operated in synergy with several European Projects: ACQWA, SAMBA, iTESLA, AFTER, TWENTIES, GridTech, eBADGE, eHIGHWAY2050 e INSPIRE-Grid..