CIGRE SEERC: Report from 4th Grid Resilience Workshop in Rome
Enhancing Power Grid Resilience: Operational and Planning Experiences in Transmission & Distribution Grids and Generation facilities
Participants of 4th Workshop in the courtyard of the historic building of the University "La Sapienza", Rome, Italy, 23 January 2025.
The South-East European Region of CIGRE (SEERC) held its first professional meeting in January 2014 at the Faculty of Engineering, University of La Sapienza in Rome, which is also the largest European university. SEERC brings together 17 CIGRE National Committees from the Czech Republic and Austria in the north to Italy, Israel, Turkey and Georgia in the south of Europe as well Ukraine to the east. In the last 10 years, CIGRE SEERC has developed several technical events such as biennial conferences, workshops, colloquiums, special history panels, regional NGN and WIE. In 2019, at the initiative of Professor Massimo Pompili from the University of La Sapienza, biennial workshops on the topic of network resilience are taking place in January 2019. This year's workshop was the 4th edition. The aim is to address interesting developments and successful solutions in the transmission and distribution networks of South-Eastern Europe, operational and natural attacks to grid. The workshops are open to all CIGRE members, and any innovative solutions are welcomed. Last workshop featured 14 presentations from 9 countries. The guest of honor was CIGRE President Dr. Konstantin Papailiou. It is also interesting to say that the workshop takes place in the famous paintings room, where Michelengelo himself once worked and has a certain spirit of creativity. Unfortunately, our main initiator of the events and sharing of experience in the field of network resilience, Prof. Pompili, fell ill the day before the event, he was admitted to the hospital, and we missed him very much.
The day before the workshop, a meeting of the working group on the history of electrical engineering in South-Eastern Europe was held in the High Voltage Laboratory. Fifteen people attended. It is known that electricity actually originated in this area (A. Volta, Italy) and the SEERC region of CIGRE published a book in 2020 on the history of electrification of all CIGRE SEERC member states. A special regional working group for History prepares a History Panel for each conference, where interesting topics from the past are discussed. Thus, at the SEERC conference in Vienna (2021), the topic was "Cognitive history of AC polyphase power systems development and progress in Central Europe”. For the next 5th SEERC Conference which will be in Sarajevo, 4-5 June 2025, was agreed topic with title "History of electric power interconnections with focus to Central and South-East European region”. After the beginnings of the creation of interconnections or connected power grids, which have significantly accelerated the electrification of the world, the emergence of UCPTE and interconnections in the Mediterranean seabed will be presented. There were two specially prepared presentations (K. Bakic) “Short story of the creation of power interconnections” and (M. Rebolini) “Electricity networks and the Seas - A short history in the Mediterranean Sea”. For next conference in Sarajevo (B/H) are selected three presentations: Slovenia (Impact of interconnections to global electrification), Italy (History of Mediterranean interconnections) and Türkiye (History of Interconnection Turkey and Georgia to European continental interconnection UCTE). History panel in Sarajevo will be chair by Massimo Pompili (Italy). Next CIGRE SEERC Workshop on Grid Resilience will be in January 2027.
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