About us
The Energy world is facing an unprecedented time of changes. The electrical grid is the center around which this revolution is happening. It is time for a complete new vision of the energy system, which will enable a clean and CO2 free society. Key enablers of this revolution are technologies such as power electronics but, more than anything else, integration of modern ICT through the automation infrastructure. This revolution needs new concepts and approaches that will not come from a traditional research environment.
The goal of ACS is to implement a multidisciplinary research approach able to capture the most recent advances in ICT to support the solution of the most advanced problems in the area of grid dynamics and automation.
In order to achieve this vision the research in ACS is organized around three main pillars:
- Grid operations
- ICT for Energy
- Control and Automation
Thanks to a multidisciplinary team that works at the intersection of traditional power systems with advanced control and automation concepts and modern ICT solutions, the research at ACS can cover, in a unique way, the following scientific areas:
- Joint analysis and design of power grid and communication infrastructure in future grids
- Modern control architectures and protection techniques
- Electrical distribution and usage in home, neighborhood and urban energy systems
- Distributed measurements and monitoring
- Data driven solutions for energy systems
- Future Internet for energy systems
- Advanced computing for simulation applications
- Real time simulation and Hardware-in-the-Loop testing
- System software and computer architectures for parallel co-simulation of power and communication systems
ACS constantly develops and expands an advanced testing facility, a research topic in itself, installed in the ACS laboratory with unique custom solutions for
- real-time simulation of power grids,
- hardware in the loop testing,
- power hardware in the loop testing,
- mixed power, control and communication simulation.
The ACS is an associated institute within the Institute for High Voltage Equipment and Grids, Digitalization and Energy Economics and works closely with the chairs of the institute: High Voltage Equipment and Technology, Transmission Grids and Energy Economics and Active Energy Distribution Grids.
Furthermore, a strategic cooperation exists with the Fraunhofer Zentrum Digitale Energie, in which the next stage of convergence of information and communication technology with the energy supply system is being advanced. Prof. Antonello Monti is one of the four professors that are leading this research center.