This document summarizes the main results of the activities carried out in the Annual Implementation Plan (PAR) 2017 of the project “Components and Devices for Grids.”

The general objective of the project is to carry out highly experimental research aimed at studying, developing and testing new materials capable of significantly improving the performance of transmission grid components and devices.

The document is divided into an introductory chapter describing the main national and international research programs and the main objectives of the three-year project, followed by chapters describing the activities carried out in the two strands into which the project is divided. The report contains the main results, objectives and motivations of the research, as well as the stages of its development and a brief summary of the activities carried out in the previous PAR. This is followed by a brief description of the activities carried out in research and standardization working groups at national and international level. This is followed by a description of the specific work carried out in PAR 2017, which was divided into two strands of research and considered the following activities:

• Study and characterization of surface treatments of aluminum and its alloys aimed at obtaining anti-icing properties of metallic conductors.

• Development of hydrophobic or hydrophilic coatings for glass insulators.

• Outdoor characterization of ice-phobic conductors, for distribution and transmission lines, at the WILD station and on overhead power lines.

• Development and testing on overhead lines of passive devices capable of enabling the detection of sleeve formation on line conductors.

• Modeling and measurements on new insulators and insulators taken from operation in the presence of non-conductive defects between the fiberglass bar and the silicone housing

• Continuation and completion of activities to define test protocols and characterize HTLS conductors with innovative composite cores (Kevlar cores and carbon fibers with trapezoidal elementary wires).

• Extension of parametric comparison between SFCLs and limiting reactors, analyzing different application scenarios in public and private grids

• Design, production and experimental characterization of single-phase SFCL prototypes with newly developed YBCO-based SAT 2G tapes. Development of numerical modeling on the new superconducting tapes based on experimental studies. Development of simulation methods for the study of fluid dynamic phenomena in superconducting cable cryostats in innovative configurations.)

Knowledge dissemination has been carried out continuously through the publication of articles and presentations at conferences, as detailed in the final chapter.