Luca Orrù, Demonstration leader within the OSMOSE project and Innovation Manager in TERNA Spa., accepted to answer our question about flexibility and the future for EU Grid.

Do you think that there is a mean of flexibility “key” to achieve the European target for RES integration?

Increasing flexibility of electricity resources, markets and operations is one of the fundamental drivers for ensuring effective and full integration of renewables in the EU in the future. In terms of enabling technologies, there is broad consensus on the importance of storage – at utility and local scale and not only BESS – but we should not undervalue the potential for flexibility that can derive from the same electricity grid, in terms of enhanced dynamic management thanks to new sensors, monitoring, simulation and control technologies as well as integration with other energy networks and interoperability.

How the OSMOSE Italian demo intends to bring some positive solution for the future of the European Grid?

The italian demo is fully aligned with the overall goal of the Osmose project: identify the optimal mix of flexibilities for the European power system and capture “silo-breaking” synergies. We intend to reach this ambitious goal trying to assess the real-life techno-economic efficiency of multiple services provided by grid devices, large demand-response and RES generation coordinated in a “smart management system”. We will test, on one side, new energy management tools devoted to congestion management on sub-transmission grid (the most affected by high share of RES power plants connected), and on the other side, demonstrate, in a relevant HV grid portion, the reliability of provision of Frequency Restoration Reserve (FRR) and Automatic Voltage Control (AVC) by single or aggregated large industrial loads and also Synthetic Inertia and AVC by relevant wind power plants. We will also improve Dynamic Thermal Rating (DTR) techniques making use of advanced sensors and innovative meteo forecasting methodologies.

To conclude, for you, what should be the key message of the Osmose Italian demo and of the whole OSMOSE project?

I’m convinced that in the coming years as Europeans but in general as mankind, we must put any effort to concretely reach the goal of fully carbon-neutrality and base our economy on the concept of circularity. With this respect, electricity sector is crucial and Osmose project, as well as the Italian demo, could contribute to put in evidence how the energy system of the future – decarbonised, resilient, secure, efficient – will be based above all on extensive and more and more interconnected and responsive networks.