Summary
The energy transition is increasing the complexity of the electric power systems. The installation of additional generation capacity from renewable energy sources poses new challenges in the operation of the electric power systems mainly due to i) the variable and nondispatchable nature of many of these sources, such as wind and solar power, ii) lack of flexibility resources, iii) overgeneration management, iv) frequency and voltage regulation effectiveness in addition to technical concerns about system security and stability. To enable integration of additional renewable energy sources while guaranteeing the secure and reliable operation of the system, beyond technological developments, the transmission system operators need to improve operational and planning processes to deal with the increasing uncertainties while maximizing the renewable energy dispatch and minimizing ancillary services costs. To achieve these goals, it is necessary to implement performance management strategies aimed at monitoring and continuously improving each of the key processes involved in the aforementioned power system design and operation stages. The aim of this paper is to present the application of the Overall Equipment Effectiveness performance indicator for monitoring and improving the key processes in the power system operational planning and real time operation of the Italian power transmission system. The Overall Equipment Effectiveness is a comprehensive measure of how effectively a piece of equipment, or a production system is utilized, capturing the combined impact of three key factors: availability, performance, and quality. This indicator can be formulated in the transmission system operation adapted to suit the specific operational requirements of electrical system dispatching, allowing for more agile decision-making and better identification of performances deviations from optimal levels. Five distinct indicators have been developed to deal with some of the most relevant processes of power system operations:
Read more Read less1. Voltage Regulation: focuses on the efficiency of voltage profile control on the national transmission grid, measuring data quality, effectiveness of corrective actions, and compliance with voltage security ranges.
2. Transmission Limits and Congestion Management: evaluates how accurately transfer capacity among market zones are defined and managed in real time, using performance metrics related to system availability, security analysis (i.e. N, N-1), physical flows vs market exchanges.
3. Frequency Regulation and Reserves: monitors reserve allocation and activation processes, with indicators addressing secondary and tertiary reserve use, modulation thresholds, and adequacy of activated volumes on the ancillary market.
4. Renewable Energy Source Dispatching: assesses the effectiveness of renewable energy sources curtailment decisions, incorporating factors such as local congestion, dynamic stability management, and transport network constraints.
5. Flexibility Resources Management: measures how well flexibility resources such as pumped-storage resources are used within multi-day scheduling and real-time balancing, distinguishing between cases with and without predefined adequacy targets.
Each indicator model includes custom key performance indicators, defined and calibrated through iterative analysis between measured and theoretical targets. Tools such as automated dashboards, daily performance roll-ups, and event clustering enhance transparency and allow integration into recurring business reviews. The application of these tools is demonstrated to enhance overall system awareness and enables the identification of performance bottlenecks, operational inefficiencies, and areas requiring targeted improvements to ensure secure, reliable, and cost-effective grid management.
Additional informations
| Publication type | Session Materials |
|---|---|
| Reference | C2_11248_2026 |
| Publication year | |
| Publisher | CIGRE |
| Country | Italy |
| Study committees | |
| File size | 524 KB |
| Price for non member | 30 € |
| Price for member | 30 € |
Authors
PISANI Cosimo - TERNA
