This document summarizes the main results of the activities carried out in the 2016 Annual Implementation Plan (PAR) of the “Components and Devices for Grids” project.

The general objective of the project is to study, develop and use innovative techniques for the management, monitoring and diagnostics of transmission grids, in order to assess their operating performance, also in relation to environmental conditions and the determining influence they have on the grid.

The document consists of 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 presents the main results, objectives and motivations for the research, as well as the stages of its development and a brief summary of the activity 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 the national and international level. This is followed by a description of the specific work carried out in PAR 2016, which was divided into two research strands and considered the following activities: 

• The development and characterization of hydrophobic and anti-icing coatings using the sol-gel technique for applications on glass insulators and aluminum conductors. 
• The development and performance of laboratory and field test protocols. • The set-up and experimentation of conductor samples treated with hydrophobic and ice-phobic products. 
• The laboratory and field testing of coatings, deposited on aluminum and glass plates, of commercial and newly developed products.
• The characterization of functional components for the detection of snow and ice sleeve formations on overhead lines. 
• The definition of test protocols and characterization of HTLS conductors with innovative composite cores (Kevlar cores and carbon fibers with trapezoidal elementary wires). 
• The experimental characterization of novel YBCO-based superconducting tapes, modeling and simulation of their properties and behavior in SFCL superconducting devices 
• The technical and economic comparison between the use of SFCLs and limiting reactors with reference to possible methods of limiting short-circuit currents. 

• A preparatory activity for the extension of numerical simulation methods for studying the operation of superconducting cables in innovative configurations (related to the EU Best Paths project).

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