Integration of railway network into the National Transmission Grid: use case on 66 kV Battipaglia – Gallico backbone

Abstract

In December 2015, Terna Rete Elettrica Nazionale S.p.A. (hereinafter Terna) acquired the high-voltage electricity infrastructures owned by the company Ferrovie dello Stato Italiane S.p.A. consolidating its role as leader among European TSOs with approximately 72.600 km of network managed. The portion of network acquired (hereinafter RETE asset) is now owned by the company RETE S.r.l. of the Terna group. At the same time, the goal achieved opened the doors to a new challenge for Terna: assessing the methods of integration of the RETE assets with the National Transmission Grid (NTG) in order to increase the reliability and safety of the national electricity service. The aim is to identify the best development solutions by obtaining greater interoperability between the two assets: this will allow to optimize the use of the electrical corridors with the consequent minimization of the impact of the high-voltage electricity infrastructures on the Italian territory. The purpose of this article is to identify the optimal integration method with the NTG of the 66 kV RETE asset of southern Italy through observations and results obtained from the various case studies.