To address the changes within a strategic sector such as electric energy, the Research Group on Electrical Lines and Networks (ELEKTRIKER) aims to contribute to the development of research within its areas of activity, focusing its efforts on two interrelated lines of research:

The research group has analyzed and developed monitoring systems for overhead lines with the aim of obtaining the ampacity of each monitored overhead line and verifying the conductor's behavior in response to temperature changes. Additionally, the use of ampacity monitoring systems has been extended from real-time monitoring to predicting their value several hours in advance. This aims to incorporate these prediction systems into network operations and calculate the economic savings in generation and operation costs associated with using ampacity predictions instead of the usual static limits (with special attention to the benefits associated with wind generation).

This line of research studies the development of new local electricity markets so that consumers can achieve economic savings and improve network operations, as well as reduce the costs of such operations. This leads to various business opportunities for new sector agents.

This is a more recent line of research that combines results obtained in Line 1 with new approaches. It investigates operating distribution networks more flexibly to optimize energy use, improve energy efficiency, and increase the contribution of renewable energies.

The group focuses its work on modeling and analyzing distribution networks with renewable generation penetration, analyzing operational scenarios of these distribution networks to improve the utilization of renewable generation. This includes using ampacity monitoring systems and other flexibility strategies, such as storage systems in the distribution network, to account for the physical and technical limitations of electrical networks.

FEM is a powerful tool for simulating and analyzing the behavior of structures and complex systems under different load conditions. One of the main advantages of FEM is its ability to predict the behavior of a system without the need for costly and time-consuming physical tests. The research group has studied the corona effect on both sensors and substations using FEM and is reviewing the design of power transformers.