Gruppo SIGLA and the golden age of hydroelectric
One of the most historic renewable sources becomes the protagonist of the current energy transition
The energy transition is the key objective that all nations have placed at the center of their policies for both environmental and economic factors (energy self-sufficiency). To achieve these goals, everyone's focus is on renewable energies which, by respectfully exploiting the more or less available natural resources on their territory (water, air, sun), do not pollute and and do not run out. Standing out among these is hydroelectric energy which, despite being practically the most ancient of energy sources, still today plays a key role in terms of its reliability, its yields and its services, so much so that it covers almost 50% of green production (data from the International Energy Agency).
One of the many strengths of hydroelectric compared to other renewable sources is that water, a resource present in almost all territories, can be stored and controlled according to need, making energy management "programmable". It is no coincidence that during the post-war economic boom there was a strong global investment in the construction of dams and reservoirs that would allow water to be collected for later use, when more needed. Everyone's eyes are now focused on pumped hydroelectric plants due to their function of energy "storage". This type of plant, in addition to exploiting the kinetic energy of water to generate energy, can also work in an "inverse" way, like gigantic pumps capable of returning the water from the discharge basins to the upper accumulation basins: in moments of energy surplus (from other renewable sources or from nuclear power), the alternators of the plants are in fact motorized to pump the water towards a higher basin, subsequently using it in moments of greater energy demand. This makes it possible to compensate for energy shortages or seasonal and meteorological variations, even sudden ones. It should also be underlined that the role played by hydroelectric plants does not contribute to the consumption of water: all the water resources withdrawn are returned in full to the environment, without degrading or altering them. Among the lesser-known advantages of reservoir hydroelectric plants, but certainly among the most important, there is also that of providing those grid services (such as primary frequency regulation or grid restart in the event of a blackout ) which cannot be supplied instead by other non-programmable renewable sources.
Gruppo SIGLA - a company of Relatech Group - operates for more than thirty years in the world of hydroelectric plant automation, specializing both in the implementation of control and supervision logics and in the regulation of turbines and water levels. With its proven experience, taking advantage of technological innovations and digitization, Gruppo SIGLA participates in the modernization or implementation from scratch of automation systems, effectively making hydroelectric plants increasingly functional and efficient thanks to an automatic and remote control of the plant.