Energy: ENEA's video game to learn how to manage smart grids

ENEA has developed the video game, Master Grid, to educate users on how to manage an intelligent electricity network (smart grid). Although the application is primarily aimed at a young audience, adults can also put their skills to the test.

Developed by the Smart Grid and Energy Networks Laboratory within the Department of Energy Technologies and Renewable Sources, Master Grid is part of the National Electric System Research Programme's 2022–2024 Three-Year Plan ^[1]. 

It offers an interactive gaming experience that intuitively demonstrates the importance of intelligence and advanced control logic for operating a modern power grid. This includes balancing electricity generation and consumption, preventing failures, and optimising resources.

The game provides a simplified representation of typical smart grid elements, such as a thermoelectric power plant and electricity generation systems from renewable sources (photovoltaic and wind power, for example), as well as the typical loads of a small town (e.g. a detached house).

"The objective of the video game is to accumulate points through optimal resource management while preventing the grid from crashing," explains Maria Valenti, the ENEA project contact and Head of the Smart Grid Laboratory.

The score is calculated based on playing time (with points increasing over time), accumulated wealth (measured in terms of energy savings from fossil sources and from the grid), and CO₂ emissions (the lower the emissions released into the atmosphere, the higher the score).

Players take on the role of a system power manager and must 'protect' the grid from critical issues that may arise during gameplay as a result of factors such as the alternation of day and night, weather conditions, the type of fuels chosen to power the system, possible cyberattacks, and the type of units to be supplied.

"Through Master Grid, the player must meet energy demand without overloads or outages, while also progressively developing the grid by enriching it with renewable energy technologies and storage systems. Finally, the player must manage the budget for grid expansion," says Valenti.

‘The idea of developing an interactive game such as Master Grid stemmed from the awareness that the energy transition requires profound technological and cultural changes. The power grid of the future will rely increasingly on plants powered by renewable sources. Consequently, it will be necessary to address and manage their limited programmability, as well as the increasingly variable and extreme conditions to which the grid is exposed as a result of climate change, such as heatwaves. Research and innovation will be crucial in developing smart solutions to ensure the grid's reliability, security and flexibility,” Valenti concludes.