Meet Our People: Linus Eriksson – “I don’t see problems; I see solutions!”

My name is Linus Eriksson, and I'm a Consultant on the Hitachi Energy Power Consulting team based in Stockholm, Sweden.

An early fascination with electronics grows into a career

As far back as I can remember, I’ve been interested in electronics. I played with radio-controlled cars and other electronic toys as a child, and eventually I started picking them apart and building new things from the electronics.

When I grew up, choosing an education in electrical engineering was only natural. By the time I was choosing the topic for my master program, I had discovered power systems, the electrical infrastructure that powers the world. To me, nothing else could compare to the gigantic solutions that support nations!

The energy transition played into my career choice as well – the shift in how societies consume energy. The planet is moving from fossil fuels towards cleaner, renewable energy sources like solar, wind and hydropower. Nations and governments see the need to decarbonize.

My desire to aid this transition to more sustainable sources of energy made Hitachi the best place to build my career.

A passion for sustainability

I joined the Power Consulting Team in 2022. My current role is a perfect fit for me: It combines my technical expertise with my passion for technical and sustainable energy solutions. And ever since I moved to Stockholm for my studies in electric power engineering, I came to love this city despite my first skepticism as a person from a small town where everyone knows each other more or less. I found a huge international community, many friends, and the summers here are simply amazing! Stockholm is based on 14 islands bordered by an archipelago, and you can enjoy sports in the parks and huge forests, enjoy barbecues and go swimming at the many bathing spots practically in the middle of the city. To sustain and protect such environments for future generations to enjoy like we do is a key motivator for me every day!

Much of my work involves conducting system studies, evaluating different analysis, and verifying that the system design meets all the required standards and regulations and/or to propose optimal solutions. My job also includes a lot of project management and relationship management. It helps that I have always been a pure optimist. I don’t see problems; I see solutions!

For any given engagement, I might be the person leading the conversations between the customer and the consultants on the project team, as well as the internal discussions on how to plan and execute the project. I also facilitate conversations with the relevant authorities to ensure compliance. And I keep everyone on track as the project progresses! So, there are a lot of layers to what I do.

Challenging projects galore

One project I'm particularly proud of is a power-from-shore project. For this customer, my team and I developed an optimal power-from-shore transmission system to electrify an offshore energy production facility. We also demonstrated how replacing the facility's gas turbines with renewable power from the mainland would yield reliable offshore operations and reduce carbon emissions.

Another project that stands out was the TenneT network equivalent study, which will facilitate the increase of wind power. The Tennet IJV-Alpha project is connecting 2 GW of wind power off the Dutch coast and interconnecting the power grid of the Netherlands with the one in the UK allowing for an exchange of power between the nations and the wind park. Our study aimed at condensing a large dynamic network representation of the entire Dutch grid into a small equivalent network followed by a transfer between software to the electro-magnetic transient (EMT) domain to allow for a deeper dynamic performance analysis of the HVDC modules.

An internal project that I am also very proud of is one that we did to enhance efficiency. I helped to develop new software to automate and digitalize our processes. The most exhilarating part of that project was collaborating with different Power Consulting teams around the world and getting the feeling that you are building something that will be used by people around the world perhaps for years to come.

Expanding horizons

I’ve learned so much from working with Power Consulting! I don't think I would have developed as much in such a short time anywhere else. The speed is incredible, and I work with talented people with profound academic backgrounds (many are PhDs) as well as decades of experience. I can call any of my colleagues at any time, ask my questions, and get the support I need.

Looking ahead, I'm excited to continue expanding my horizon on sustainable energy solutions and I'm looking forward to contributing to more groundbreaking projects that will shape the future of the energy industry.

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