Erik Alvarez

Erik F. Alvarez is a researcher in the Electric Power System Unit at RISE, where he focuses on the modeling and optimization of power systems. His work addresses focuses flexibility resources, market clearing, long-term transmission expansion planning, and the integration of distributed energy resources, with a particular interest in uncertainty management and regulatory frameworks.

Prior to joining RISE, Erik completed his Ph.D. in Electrical Energy at Universidad Pontificia Comillas in Madrid, Spain, under the guidance of Dr. Andrés Ramos Galán and Dr. Luis Olmos Camacho. His doctoral research contributed to the field of transmission expansion planning by improving mathematical modeling to incorporate a refined representation of the electricity network, flexibility, uncertainty and sector coupling — including the roles of utility-scale storage, and distributed flexibility. He also contributed on the development and maintenance of open-source energy modelling tools such as openTEPES. At the same he worked as a research assistant at the Instituto de Investigación Tecnológica (IIT) in Madrid, Spain.

Erik also holds a M.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Universidade Estadual de Campinas in Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil, under the supervision of the Dr. Marcos J. Rider. His thesis work focused on the development of optimisation models for the transmission expansion planning and stochastic market clearing using convex relaxations such as semidefinite relaxation to transform typically non-convex problems into a semidefinite (convex) programing problems considering the integration of renewable energy sources. And, he also holds an B.Sc. in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering from the Universidad Nacional de Ingeniería in Lima, Peru.

Between his M.Sc. and B.Sc., he gained practical experience in the Peruvian electricity sector working in the Transmission Expansion Planning Sub-Division of the Peruvian Independent System Operator (COES-SINAC), focusing on system planning and operational analysis.

Research interests: integrated expansion planning; electricity markets, optimal power flow, uncertainty management; integration of DERs; sector coupling; long duration energy storage; system flexibility; open-source energy modeling.

More information: https://erikfilias.github.io/