Susanne Nies, Board Chair of currENT, introduced and moderated the webinar. Fabio Genoese, Head of Strategy, Terna, held a keynote speech on Delivering the Green Deal in Italy: renewables, new network needs, reinforcements and the potential of innovation, talking about the impressive grid connection requests for Italy, which would be more than sufficient to reach the ambitious 2030 targets.  

A roundtable, composed of Italian as well as European grid stakeholders from industries, TSOs and policymakers, gave their views on the latest Italian grid development. 

Riccardo Vailati, ARERA, introduced some elements of regulation of transmission network development and transmission innovation for Italy, mentioning transmission innovation pilot projects as part of the approach.  Joachim Balke, DG ENER, shared insights on current network regulation at the EU level in the TEN-E update, covering the forthcoming permitting guidance, discussions on smart electricity grids, DSO interoperability, as well as hydrogen and natural infrastructure challenges. Christoph Maurer, Consentec, presented the recently published Consentec Report on the benefits of innovative grid technologies. Jan Kostevc, ACER, shared ACER’s Infrastructure Efficiency Paper, stating that regulators will focus this year on the question of impact and what conclusions to draw. Ercole de Luca, ARETI, presented the Smart Grid Key Performance Indicators: a DSO perspective, insisting that Smart Grids have to be efficient. Catherine Winning, Smart Wires, shared global examples of grid optimisation projects. Anders Skånlund, Heimdall Power, showcased how Dynamic Line Rating helps grids towards zero emission, underlining that knowing the true and dynamic capacities of energy grids and using those capacities efficiently is a gamechanger that can significantly speed up the green energy transition. Alberto Pototschnig, Florence School of Regulation, talked about capacity building for the Green Deal implementation. Fabio Genoese provided the conclusions and mentioned that Italy has already implemented non-wire solutions in four grid sections, resulting in a total increase in transport capacity of about 1450 MW.