Biography
Sergio Damonte is the Director of Quantum. His main role involves developing and leading the Wholesale Markets area, planning execution, and actively participating in all stages of consulting projects.
Sergio is an Industrial Engineer who graduated with the highest GPA of the 1998 class from the Universidad Católica de Córdoba, Argentina. The CPII (Professional Council of Industrial Engineering) awarded him the title of best industrial engineer in Argentina.
He has extensive experience in the development of optimization models, both for the simulation of wholesale electricity markets and in determining optimal networks adapted to demand. For more than 20 years, since joining Quantum, he has worked on the refinement of in-house optimization models for optimal dispatch, optimal system expansion, and optimization of transmission and distribution networks.
He has participated in consulting projects related to the wholesale electricity market and its relationship with the natural gas sector in SIEPAC in Central America, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Jamaica, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Uruguay, Argentina, and Cameroon. These projects have been linked to wholesale market simulations, energy and capacity procurement auctions, system expansion mechanisms for electricity and natural gas, and the analysis of marginal electricity costs and natural gas and LNG prices.
He led the development and implementation of the energy and capacity procurement optimization software known as OPTIME, which has been rigorously tested and used in real auctions in Panama and Guatemala. This innovative model optimally identifies the set of suppliers to meet the energy and capacity needs of distributors, all with the aim of minimizing costs through the use of mixed programming techniques.
Additionally, he has provided support in energy and capacity procurement auctions held in Panama and Guatemala since 2016 to date.
He also contributed to the development of a simulation and optimization tool for Electricity and Gas Markets, called OMEGA, which is currently adopted by major generating companies in Argentina. This tool has been used to assist in arbitrations and simulate other wholesale markets, including SIEPAC, Peru, Bolivia, Cameroon, among others.
In the transmission and distribution segment of electricity, he has participated in numerous tariff studies by developing optimal networks and calculating the optimal NVR in Guatemala, El Salvador, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Bolivia, and Argentina.
In addition to his extensive activity in Latin America, he has also conducted consulting studies in Cameroon, Mozambique, and the Solomon Islands.
He has also been a speaker at numerous courses and congresses, including 19 International Seminars on Regulation and Tariffs organized annually by Quantum. He has also participated as a speaker in numerous forums, international seminars, and in-company training, notably the Seminar on Conceptual and Pragmatic Elements of the Economy of Public Services Regulation in Costa Rica for ARESEP (Public Services Regulatory Authority).
His focus on the development of optimization models has led him to become an enthusiastic advocate of wholesale markets, total system cost minimization mechanisms, and optimization in the use of scarce resources.
Key Competencies
• Regulatory Studies
• Strategic Services
• Wholesale Electricity and Natural Gas Markets
• Simulation Models
• Electric Network Optimization
• Calculation of Real and Optimal Losses
• Energy and Capacity Procurement Auctions
