On 21 and 25 November, as part of the “Electric Power Systems” course module in the Master’s Degree Programme in Electrical Engineering, two in-depth seminars were held. The events were organized by Professor Alberto Berizzi, faculty member of the Department of Energy and course instructor of the course module, in collaboration with Terna Spa, the Transmission System Operator of the Italian electricity grid.

The initiative, strongly supported by Professor Berizzi, offered students a unique opportunity to engage with experts from one of the leading TSOs at the international level.

The first seminar, titled “Challenges of modern Transmission System Operators for the energy transition”, was delivered by Francesco Del Pizzo, Grid Development Strategies and Dispatching at Terna. The seminar had the goal of providing insights on the main challenges that modern TSOs have to face in order to contribute to the global energy transition. In particular, the main actions from both the technical and the economic point of view, of one of the largest TSOs in the world, Terna, were described and discussed. During the event, a focus was placed on the regulatory framework both at national and European level, in order to highlight the complexity and the multi-disciplinary approach needed to understand the energy world today.

The second seminar, titled “Large disturbances: lessons learned from recent and past incidents” was delivered by Giorgio Maria Giannuzzi, Head of System Engineering at Terna. During the event, the speaker offered a point for reflection on how electric power systems are undergoing a profound transformation due to the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources, which is making power system control and dynamics increasingly complex. In particular, the seminar presented the main lessons learned from major blackouts or recent and past incidents that have occurred in Europe and in the rest of the world.

The two seminars generated great interest and engagement, proving to be intense and stimulating educational moments, full of insights and valuable learning opportunities for all the students who attended.