Ideas originating within the company, to serve the grid of the future

While the public debate focuses on the urgency of the energy transition, Terna is establishing itself as a workshop turning out truly cutting-edge technology. And it’s got the numbers to back it up: to date, the company that manages Italy’s national transmission grid boasts a portfolio of 79 patents from 45 patent families, covering design and technical solutions, with 38 already granted. This is an increase of over 110% in the number of patents filed from 2023. This growth is the clearest manifestation of a strategy aimed at protecting the Group’s know-how and spreading Italian electrical engineering even beyond its national borders. In fact, half of these patents have also been filed in Europe, the United States, Australia, and China, meaning that Terna’s ideas have grown into innovative solutions for foreign electricity grids too.

Company growth, therefore, is no longer measured solely in kilometres of electrical infrastructure or in the energy transported from one end of the country to the other, but also in the intellectual capital it now possesses. Indeed, the number of patents is a testament to the ingenuity of Terna’s professionals and how they are valued. With their distinctive skills, they make an immense wealth of knowledge available to the company and to the national electrical system, and each filing is the result of a corporate strategy that supports ideas from conception to legal protection.

Patents as catalysts of value. The strategic need to protect the company’s Intellectual Property (IP) is not merely a bureaucratic exercise but is triggered directly by a close focus on operational needs and the ability to translate insights and technical solutions into protected intangible assets. In fact, patents represent one of the main forms of industrial property protection, safeguarding innovations which involve an element of invention, and which are eligible for large-scale application. They serve a crucial function: granting the inventor or company the right to prevent third parties from producing, using, selling or importing the invention without authorisation. This is essential to recover research and development costs, attract investors and provide a clear competitive advantage on the market, transforming technical innovation into a tangible economic asset. In exchange for this temporary monopoly, the patent requires public disclosure of the technical finding, adding to the shared body of knowledge and fuelling further advances.

From idea to patent. In Terna’s specific case, corporate structures receive support from the earliest stage of conception and throughout the entire process of intellectual property protection, from a preliminary evaluation of the most appropriate safeguarding measures to the performance of all the necessary checks, until the patent is filed with the competent offices. And, thanks to the protection of internal know-how and the implementation of patented innovations, Terna is able to offer cutting-edge solutions that support the growth and resilience of the national electricity system, making a significant contribution to achieving a sustainable energy future and enabling the growth of shared value.

Innovation and digitisation are cornerstones of Terna’s 2024-2028 Industrial Plan. When updating the plan last March, 2025, the Group set out total investments of 2.4 billion euros for digital transformation, with the aim of managing the grid more effectively while ensuring quality, supply continuity, and lower costs for the system. Terna takes a structured, practical approach to fostering innovation, starting from corporate needs and attracting the involvement of external and internal players through the “Stage & Gate” innovation model. There are three main phases: screening for the most suitable innovative solutions; developing these solutions; and, finally, adopting them. The results are undeniable: over 500 startups have made contact with the company, and more than 15 open calls have been launched.

The five pillars of innovation. The approximately 70 innovation projects that Terna is engaged in cluster around five technological pillars. The Digital cluster, which accounts for half of the projects, represents technologies for digitisation to support the electricity grid and the optimisation of processes. The Energy System Tech area focuses instead on the main challenge facing the electricity system: the integration of renewable sources, decentralised sources and flexibility services such as, for example, innovative solutions related to energy storage systems. With Grid Tech, the focus is on technologies that support the effective management of grid infrastructure. Commitment to the environment also involves research and development in the field of Advanced Materials: Terna is investing in the use of eco-friendly materials that reduce the environmental impact of infrastructures, while at the same time making them more efficient and sustainable in the field. Finally, there is AI-Botics Tech (Artificial Intelligence and robotics) to support the operation and maintenance of assets: drones and intelligent algorithms are now widely used to ensure the safety and operability of the grid, with high levels of detail and precision.

In this Lightbox article, we delve into some of the main innovative solutions which Terna has already protected as its Intellectual Property, or for which it is currently going through the process.

The rectiformer, a hybrid device to simplify grids. The rectiformer, a brainwave from Terna’s laboratories, promises to be the game-changer the global energy system has been waiting for to manage the era of renewables. This device is a true technological hybrid: it combines the functions of a transformer and a converter of alternating and direct current, all in a single piece of equipment. This innovation meets the need for more efficient management of the growing production of energy from renewable sources, which remains intermittent. Integration is key: the machine is able to incorporate electronic conversion modules directly into the structure of the transformer.

“5-Phase” pylons for a more sustainable grid. Terna has developed and patented a new generation of “5-Phase” pylons, designed to revolutionise the efficiency and sustainability of transmission lines, without requiring additional land use. This engineering solution is a concrete example of how simplicity can pave the way for the energy transition: the new “5-Phase” pylons are a plug-and-play installation for the future of energy, designed to integrate perfectly into the existing electricity transmission grid.

The pole command device, for greater flexibility in the electricity grid. The tireless search for solutions to increase the flexibility and resilience of the national transmission grid has led Terna to another significant innovation, which it has already patented: the pole command device (PCD). This solution addresses the need to provide greater flexibility to so-called “T-junctions”: strategic points of the grid where both large, highly energy-intensive users and production plants based on renewable or traditional sources connect directly to the high-voltage grid. The PCD is an integrated system consisting of a pylon that houses a compact, multi-functional, raised modular unit. The ingenious part is that the entire system is contained within a single pylon, minimising environmental interference and impact on the landscape. The result is a discreet yet powerful apparatus, capable of managing high-voltage junctions in an agile and robust manner, quickly adapting to changes in flows and to the needs of the system. By combining everything in a single pylon, the device minimises land use and visual impact, an increasingly important factor in the acceptance of infrastructure at local level.

Robots and drones: electronic eyes for infrastructure maintenance. In collaboration with the Japanese company Hibot, Terna has developed a prototype of a robot capable of moving along conductors and performing maintenance even on live lines, enhancing operational efficiency and security. In addition to robotics for more complex inspections, the Group has developed and already received a patent for a solution that transforms the way in which technical checks are performed on overhead power lines.

With the safety, efficiency and continuity of the electricity service also depending upon innovation, Terna is planning a true revolution in maintenance activities on the transmission grid, partly through the extensive use of a drone fleet that will make it possible to intervene in complete safety, reducing both time scales and the impact on operating costs. The strength of this innovation lies in the equipment on board each drone: equipped with specific tools, they can carry out highly specialised activities which are impossible or hazardous to perform manually. Drones can accurately measure the electrical resistance of conductors or the electric field in insulators. This high-fidelity data is essential to promptly identify latent anomalies which, if not corrected, could lead to component failure. In this way, maximum grid reliability is guaranteed.

R.U.T. and SAMAT, cutting-edge solutions for operator safety. The safety of operating personnel on pylons and in electrical substations is an absolute priority for Terna. To reduce the risk of accidents for operators at work, the Group has developed and patented two revolutionary solutions springing from the internal innovation programme “Terna Ideas”: R.U.T. is a universal voltage detector and SAMAT is an auxiliary grounding system, with their patents obtained between late 2024 and early 2025. Both projects aim to reduce the risk of electrocution while simplifying the procedures for making systems safe.

Specifically, R.U.T. is set to become an essential tool for system verification. The device quickly and reliably detects the presence of voltage, emitting visual and/or audible alarms. Its mission is to completely eliminate the risk for operators working on lines and stations, streamlining and speeding up operational procedures for making safe. The prototype passed its first test, held at the electrical substation in Bellolampo (Palermo) in December 2024, with flying colours, demonstrating its reliability in detecting the absence and subsequent return of voltage to a reactivated electrical power line. Testing on the final prototype continued in 2025 to assess the process for adoption of the solution.

The SAMAT project aims instead to enhance the protection of operators by drastically reducing direct contact with high-voltage components. This auxiliary system speeds up the grounding operations essential before any intervention, thereby improving the overall efficiency of activities and reducing work times. In practice, SAMAT makes interventions more reliable and convenient and, above all, increases personal protection.

SAMAT also passed its first acceptance test in December 2024: the prototype was tested at the Villabona (Venice) electrical substation, on a portion of the system which had already been taken off circuit and pre-emptively made safe. Acceptance testing activities continued in 2025, again to subsequently evaluate a potential pathway for its adoption at some operational plants.