What needs to be done to reach beam energy above 3.5 TeV? Commissioning of essential magnet powering and machine protection systems

After the initial plans in 2007 to run the LHC at 7 TeV, a number of unexpected events, and the extended knowledge of the machine that came after them, have convinced us to gradually reduce the beam energy to the current 3.5 TeV. As a consequence of this, some circuits have been commissioned to different energy levels. Some systems, as the quench protection system, are working at a reduced level of accuracy based on less demanding conditions. Nonconformities that were unacceptable for higher energy have no consequences at the current energy and are thus accepted. In this talk, we will review the current status of commissioning of all the circuits and estimate the time and effort necessary to make all circuits operational at higher energies. All existing nonconformities that need to be solved before increasing the energy will be reviewed and their impact in terms of machine safety and schedule will be assessed. The talk will try to outline a stepped energy increase compatible with the already planned maintenance periods and balanced between physics and commissioning time.