Terna seeks innovative robotics for field operations
Italian TSO Terna has entered a five-year agreement with the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) on the design and implementation of innovative robotics solutions.
The goal is to support the management of the electricity grids and substations to increase the efficiency and resilience of the grid while at the same time ensuring the safety of the company’s staff during field operations and maintenance activities.
“The robotic solutions we will implement with the IIT will support our people, ensuring an even higher level of safety in the operations they carry out every day throughout Italy,” comments Massimiliano Garri, Terna’s Head of Innovation & Market Solutions.
“The partnership that begins will allow us to evolve, innovate and make our operations even more efficient, with important benefits for the entire national electricity grid.”
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Terna anticipates that the collaboration with the IIT, and with its know-how in the field of automation and robotics, should lead to the development of new solutions to support consolidated operations and maintenance in the daily management of its approximately 75,000 km of high and extra-high voltage power lines and over 900 electrical substations throughout Italy.
The two parties have already identified some initial specific cases to be developed and tested together, such as autonomous robots capable of carrying out operations on pylons supporting overhead power lines, advanced systems for monitoring electrical substations in the absence of human operators, and devices such as exoskeletons to support the work of field personnel.
During the collaboration, Terna and IIT will also consider taking steps to protect intellectual property with the aim of protecting and enhancing the research results.
Terna’s innovation plan aims to manage the evolution of the electricity system, increase the performance and resilience of the transmission grids, increase efficiency and minimise the risks arising from maintenance, as well as to better cope with new ways of working by helping to create a company where people are increasingly at the centre, all with a focus on sustainability and the energy transition as key factors.
