The research areas related to the DITEN-IEES (Intelligent Electric Energy Systems) Operating Unit focus on the theme of smart grids, particularly addressing developments and applications in the following areas:
• Conventional and renewable energy, management and control of electrical systems,
• Automation and control of transmission and distribution electrical networks, including microgrids on land and on board,
• Smart cities and rational energy use in the industrial and civil sectors (Local Energy Communities, efficiency of structures and districts, real-time monitoring systems, etc.).
DITEN-IEES has been involved as a partner in various European projects on resilience and the interaction between electrical systems and ICT. They have also participated in two projects under the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (MiSE): PODCAST (Optimization Platform for Distribution through the use of data from electronic meters and distributed storage systems) and VIRTUS (Virtual Management of Distributed Energy Resources). Additionally, they have been involved in numerous research projects with Italian entities and institutions such as ABB, LEONARDO, RSE, TERNA, and more. Notable recent projects include EU projects like FlexChess, Edinaf, V-ACCESS, as well as PNRR projects RAISE spoke 3 and 4, and NEST spoke 7 and 8. They are also engaged in the VISTOFARE project in the field of energy systems research, and they have a project with TERNA through the ENSIEL Consortium on Power System Stabilizer.
The Operating Unit is involved in various research activities, including the management and optimization of the electrical system and energy markets, preventive and corrective control of the electrical system to prevent and address blackouts, the interaction between electrical and ICT systems, electric distribution systems with distributed generation, storage, and intelligent load control, including electric vehicles, real-time load monitoring and energy management.
In their research activities, we define, develop, and implement models of components and systems, optimization algorithms, innovative controls (Model Predictive Control, Reinforcement Learning), consumption and renewable generation prediction algorithms using data mining techniques, neural networks, and statistical tools, as well as state estimation for electrical distribution systems.
DITEN-IEES has extensive experience in research projects related to smart grids, conventional and renewable energy sources, management platforms for urban districts, storage systems, demand response, and hardware-in-the-loop modeling for land and marine microgrids.
IEES, in collaboration with other units of DITEN and departments, has established the ShIL laboratory, a regional research infrastructure for co-simulation using a real-time simulator (OPAL-RT), FPGAs, programmable converters and amplifiers, lithium batteries, supercapacitors, PEM Fuel Cells, and electrolyzers. They also operate a microgrid with a Virtual Power Plant configuration at the School of Economics in Genoa, with a photovoltaic generation system, load control, and lithium storage. DITEN-IEES actively participates in the national initiative of the Interuniversity Consortium ENSIEL on Research Infrastructures for real-time simulation of electrical energy systems and plays a coordinating role in the SHIL (Ship Hardware in the Loop) project.
Furthermore, the Unit is actively involved in the application of electrical energy in the naval sector in collaboration with FINCANTIERI and benefits from a joint laboratory with ABB Marine located at DITEN.
Contact person: Prof. Stefano Massucco