New High Voltage Interconnections with Islands in the Mediterranean Sea: Malta and Sicily. Analysis of the Effects on Renewable Energy Sources Integration and Benefits for the Electricity Market

Mariano Giuseppe Ippolito, Salvatore Favuzza, Fabio Massaro, Liliana Mineo and Calogero Cassaro
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Mariano Giuseppe Ippolito: Department of Energy, Information Engineering and Mathematical Models, DEIM, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building n.9, 90128 Palermo (Pa), Italy
Salvatore Favuzza: Department of Energy, Information Engineering and Mathematical Models, DEIM, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building n.9, 90128 Palermo (Pa), Italy
Fabio Massaro: Department of Energy, Information Engineering and Mathematical Models, DEIM, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building n.9, 90128 Palermo (Pa), Italy
Liliana Mineo: Department of Energy, Information Engineering and Mathematical Models, DEIM, University of Palermo, Viale delle Scienze, Building n.9, 90128 Palermo (Pa), Italy
Calogero Cassaro: Terna Rete Italia S.p.A., Direzione Territoriale Centro Sud, Via Castellana, 195-90135 Palermo, Italia

Energies, 2018, vol. 11, issue 4, 1-12

Abstract: The present paper shows the benefits coming from the operation of the recent electrical high voltage (HV) interconnections between Sicily, Malta and mainland Italy. These new interconnections allow zonal prices of electricity considerably lower than in the past, ensuring greater flexibility to the system and a better integration of Renewable Energy Sources (RES). After briefly illustrating the two high-voltage electrical systems (Sicily and Malta), and having provided a description of the interconnection cable with Malta and its protection devices, the authors hypothesized two modes of operation (Sicily-Malta system islanded or interconnected to the rest of Europe). For the first case (islanded) some simulations are performed through the use of an electric network model realized in the Neplan ® environment, and for the second case an analysis of one year real data was made. The results of the simulation, thanks to the use of a power flow tracing method, show that this new interconnection between the two islands (Sicily and Malta) allows an important improvement in the integration and dispatching of the power generated by RES of the Sicilian territory, better operation of traditional Sicilian generation units, lower electricity zonal prices and a significant reduction in emissions from obsolete fuel oil thermal units located in Malta.

Keywords: Sicily-Malta interconnection line; Sicily-Italy doubling connection; Renewable Energy Sources (RES) integration; power tracing technique (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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