- Head of Asset Management – Business
- Unit Smart Infrastructures A2A
- OPG Advisor Board Member
MV JOINT FAULTS UNDER THE MICROSCOPE: ITALIAN DSOS’ SHARED ANALYSIS IMPRESSES AT CIRED
MV Joint faults under the microscope: italian DSO’s shared analysis impresses at CIRED
From 16th to 19th June, Geneva hosted the 28th CIRED, one of the most important conferences for electricity distribution, attracting 1,600 attendees and 3,000 exhibition visitors.
This year, for the very first time, OPG directly contributed to this strategic event with a technical paper, result of a work carried on in 2024 by OPG: six Italian DSOs, totally counting for around 95% of the entire Italian distribution grid, gathered and shared all available data concerning MV underground joint faults in the years 2022 and 2023 to jointly perform a data-driven analysis of the phenomenon, to look for statistical correlations between potential influencing factors and fault rates.
This topic is particularly significant considering how much MV underground lines in urban areas are strategic for the electricity distribution system and how much the trends of energy transition and climate change are stressing this critical infrastructure. Thanks to this collaboration, DSOs can improve their knowledge of this complex phenomena and better address mitigation actions and investments to improve resilience of their distribution grid.
The results of this interesting work were summarized in an Informative Report issued by OPG in December and then proposed to CIRED for a paper to be presented at this year conference. CIRED appreciated the significant technical content and accepted the paper, that has been published and included in the conference session referred to network components. Ivano Gentilini from Enel Grids
and Samuele Forciniti from A2A attended the conference and presented the work, that created a lot of interest in the attendees.
Mr Cavalletto, this was an interesting experiment of joint data-driven analysis on a such detailed technical topic: why data are so essential of the management of electrical grids?
In recent years, trends related to electrification of consumption, increase in distributed generation and climate change, are significantly accelerating and pose new and more complex challenges to distribution system operators and all stakeholders in the electricity sector (producers, manufacturers, research institutes, test laboratories, etc.). The complexity of these challenges urgently requires a breakthrough in data collection and use to better understand and anticipate phenomena. This requires new skills and updates digital tools; collaboration between DSOs and all stakeholders, including through
data sharing, is essential to achieve synergies and accelerate the ability to address these changes.
This work has to do with grid resilience: how OPG can contribute to this important aspect of the electric grid management?
According to available forecasts, the coming decades will see a continuous increase in extreme weather events, both in terms of magnitude and frequency, so new strategies in the development and management of the power grid are indispensable, considering all aspects that can contribute
to grid resilience: infrastructure robustness, network monitoring and control, emergency management,
equipment for temporary supply restoration, solutions for the rapid restoration of infrastructure functionality, and so on. The OPG is currently working on all these aspects, thanks to the wide variety of experiences brought by all stakeholders in the associations, who can learn from each other, find synergies, and accelerate the transition to a more reliable and resilient power grid.
Coming back to the specific topic of this technical paper, can you do an example of an initiative shared in OPG to improve resilience of underground MV lines?
One of the aspects that most affects the reliability of this critical infrastructure is the realization of MV joints, considering how this crucial phase depends on the executor and the conditions under which it is usually performed. As A2A, with the aim of improving constructor engagement and the digitization of our processes, we have created an app to support the operator in the realization of the joints by allowing to monitor its main phases. This app does not replace the classic field monitoring of our technicians, but it helps the process of continuous improvement on the quality of work and expands the ability to monitor construction sites remotely.
In fact, through the technical information and photographs taken by the operators during the work phases for the implementation of a joint, our technician has the possibility to check in the background the correct execution and, in case of imperfections, there is the possibility to decide whether to have the joint removed and rebuilt. After the first year of implementation, I am very happy to have positive feedback from the workers of our manufacturers and I have noticed the improvement and increase of analysis capability on this strategic asset.
