– Contaminant accumulation on insulators: activities include finalization of national mapping of insulator contamination levels, distributed monitoring of pollution status, development of a system for forecasting and warning of critical conditions and study of coatings for increasing the tightness of insulators. – Heat waves and absence of rainfall: the development of systems for diagnostics, monitoring and forecasting the status of MV cable networks has been planned. The activity will be developed by deepening the diagnostic aspects and identifying the phenomena that most affect the temperature of underground cables and joints, analysing the correlation of meteorological parameters with failure rates, in order to realise a mapping and forecasting/warning system of the phenomenon.

– Resilience and fragility of electrical stations against earthquakes and flooding: the objective of the research activity is to identify the ways soils interact with earthquake- and flood-related forcings and the functionality of overlying structures and components of the electrical grid in order to identify the risks to which it is subjected and propose mitigation solutions.

– Superconducting components and apparatuses for AC and DC grids: modelling, design, fabrication and testing of SFCL prototypes for AC and DC power grids (Fastgrid project) have been planned, also analysing the behaviour of insulations and cables under cryogenic conditions.

– Modelling and diagnostics of aging of solid dielectric insulations: the activity involves the study and modelling of the degradation mechanisms of polymeric dielectric insulations through the development of numerical techniques for the simulation of partial discharges, the development of electro-optical sensors and the modelling of the chemical aging process of polymeric materials.

– Advanced diagnostics and sensors for transformers (also in the presence of new insulating fluids): the activity studies the degradation of transformer insulation in the presence of new insulating fluids such as natural esters, and the development of innovative, optical-type sensors for assessing the state of transformers.