1 Introduction

The research unit of Electrical Energy Systems, affiliated to the DII, has gradually consolidated since the end of 2014 with the affiliation of a full professor to the Department. Starting from 2017, two associate professors joined the unit and finally in October 2021 there was the affiliation of a full professor from another university. The unit carries out research activities in the thematic areas of the disciplinary scientific sector, also trying, however, to carry out research activities integrated with more fields of study and research, which are specific of the DII Department. Only the main topics of research that were addressed in the interest period are reported below.

2 Background and Legacy

The research unit that was progressively established in the Department of Industrial Engineering, before the foundation of the latter, was incardinated in the Department of Electrical Engineering which merged into the Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology. The research unit of the Gruppo Sistemi Elettrici was headed by Prof. Francesco Gagliardi who was also President of the Gruppo Nazionale Sistemi Elettrici and President of AEIT. The Group carried out intense research activity in the sectors of the production, transmission, distribution and use of electricity. Alongside these traditional sectors of electrical plant engineering, a prestigious school of electrical system reliability established itself, which began with Prof. Gagliardi and Prof. Mongelluzzo, the latter who died prematurely.

3 Evolution

As already highlighted in the introduction, the Group is progressively structured starting from the affiliation of Prof. Lauria to DII who has begun to carry out a collaborative activity with the Course of Studies in Naval Engineering.

In particular, after having held the course of electrical transportation systems (6 CFU) he held the course of Naval Electrical Systems (9 CFU). The Naval Electrical Systems Course was then held by prof. Fantauzzi, who joined the department in 2017. Prof. Fantauzzi interacts with the teachers of the naval area also through the spin-off Dedalo. Also Prof. Chiodo contributed to the Course of Studies in Naval Engineering by teaching for two academic years the course of Probability and Statistics (9 CFU), also attended by students of Civil Engineering, Management Engineering and more Engineering programs. They carried out a didactic activity for the Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and Electronic Engineering Study Courses.

Since 2021 the group has grown by one unit with the affiliation to the DII of prof. Villacci who is President of the Ensiel Consortium which has, among other purposes, the one of promotion and coordination of studies and researches in the field of Energy, Systems and Electrical Installations, in accordance with national and international research programmes. He has over 25 years of experience in the various sectors of Electrical Energy Systems, with theoretical and experimental studies carried out in collaboration with research groups universities, both national and international, and with important industrial realities, as TERNA; ENEL; EDISON; ATOS-ORIGIN; ANSALDO; RSE; CNR; ENEA, CNR, CEI, Eni Enrico Mattei Foundation (FEEM), European Network Transmission System Operators (ENTSO), Mediterranean Transmission System Operators, Mediterranean Regulators (MEDREG).

4 Main Research Programs

The research group continued to address reliability issues of electrical systems. This is a research topic that has strongly characterized the electrical energy systems sector of the University of Naples in the past. The activities carried out, in continuity with what was carried out in the past, addressed the development of innovative methodologies for the reliable description of electrical components and electrical systems [1,2,3].

The research unit of the electrical systems group has paid great attention to problems relating to electrical systems characterized by a high rate of technological innovation [4,5,6,7,8,9]. More specifically, the problems of integrating storage systems and generation systems from renewable sources in electrical distribution and isolated systems were addressed.

The research unit of the electrical systems group has carried out an intense activity on the estimation and control of interconnected electrical systems [10,11,12,13,14]. Particularly relevant results have been achieved in the problem of estimating inertia in the face of the impact of the growing penetration of renewable sources. As many significant results have also been achieved in the estimation of the electro-mechanical oscillations of the interconnected systems. Some activities were carried out in collaboration with Terna, through the formalization of Research Agreements.

5 Awards

  • Elio Chiodo was included in the ranking drawn up by the international scientific journal Plos Biology relating to the 2% of world researchers most evaluated on the basis of scientific impact and in it he appears among the Professors of University of Naples Federico II taken into consideration throughout their career.

  • Davide Lauria is co-author of the paper: “Experimental evaluation of model-control strategies of sodium-nickel chloride battery plus supercapacitor hybrid storage systems for urban electric vehicles”, which received the award 2017 Best ICAE paper (co-authors C. Capasso, O. Veneri).

  • Davide Lauria is co-author of the paper: “Three winding transformers for smart power substations”, which received the award for the best paper presented at the International Conference on Modern Power Systems (MPS’2019), Cluj-Napoca, Romania, 21st–23rd May 2019, (co-authors G. Celentano, L.P. Di Noia, E. Rizzo).

6 Future

For the future, the research group expects to develop more and more activities fully framed in the research themes of the disciplinary scientific sector, linking them with those of other scientific skills with a view to achieving the general objectives of the energy transition and environmentally sustainable plants. The group will try, as far as is possible, to promote researches that are fully framed with national and international research programs and to encourage collaboration with other universities, research institutions and industrial partners both national and international. The group will also try to promote and encourage educational initiatives aimed at advanced training within Electric Energy Systems, including masters in collaboration with prestigious industrial partners.