Research

My research combines two key themes: (1) how innovation policies can accelerate technological change, and (2) how models can represent these policies. Both themes share a focus on energy technologies and policy.

Find a complete list of my publications on my Google Scholar page or my ORCID page.

Ongoing research projects

HYPATH: Hydrogen Pathways: Domestic Policies and International Strategies for Switzerland’s Energy Future

HYPATH explores how hydrogen can help Switzerland achieve a secure, net-zero energy system. Hydrogen can be used for many applications, from seasonal energy storage to low-carbon fuels for industry—but its future depends on which pathways develop and at what cost.

This project, conducted in collaboration with EPFL, compares domestic hydrogen production with imports to understand when each option is more promising. We use rigorous techno-economic modeling to quantify costs, infrastructure needs, and sensitivity to changing conditions like demand, technology prices, and regulation. By stress-testing these pathways under different scenarios, we identify which strategies remain viable as the future unfolds.

HYPATH also examines how Switzerland can integrate into emerging international hydrogen markets, considering system interactions across multiple scales—from domestic infrastructure to cross-border trade networks. We assess how trade affects costs, supply security, and exposure to geopolitical risks. Rather than treating uncertainty as a problem, we make it central to our analysis—identifying where decisions have lasting impact and where flexibility matters most.

The project delivers clear insights into the economic and strategic implications of hydrogen pathways for Switzerland. By systematically mapping costs, risks, and opportunities across domestic and international options, HYPATH contributes to energy transition research and supports long-term planning decisions.

Funded by the Swiss Federal Office of Energy program on Energy, Economy, and Society, HYPATH supports one PhD student at ETH Zurich.

Zero-AMPS: An Advanced Modeling Framework for Assessing Policy Mixes for Net-Zero Technologies

Reaching net-zero emissions by 2050 requires accelerating the adoption of clean energy technologies. Energy models are essential tools for addressing this challenge. However, most common energy models have a fundamental limitation: they optimize costs without capturing how businesses, investors, and other economic actors make decisions when new policies are introduced.

Zero-AMPS bridges this gap through a systematic approach that combines two modeling methods. The core objective is to create a model that captures how policy mixes affect economic actors in emerging clean energy supply chains. By blending agent-based modelling (which simulates individual decisions) with energy system modelling (which represents technical constraints and system interactions), the project will rigorously assess the effects of policy on emissions, jobs, and infrastructure development.

The project unfolds in three stages, examining dynamics across multiple scales. First, we integrate these modeling approaches at the national scale. Second, we expand to regional analysis to examine how infrastructure coordination works across borders. Finally, we model technology supply chains, competition, and trade dynamics between regions.

The result is the Zero-AMPS framework—an Agent-based Model for Policy mix Simulation designed specifically for net-zero technologies. This tool moves beyond traditional optimization to assess how policies actually shape the development of clean energy systems. It captures market dynamics, investment decisions, and system coordination challenges that conventional models miss.

Zero-AMPS provides policymakers, researchers, and industry stakeholders with an advanced tool to accelerate the adoption of clean energy technologies. By revealing how different policy combinations influence technology deployment across scales, the framework supports more nuanced and effective policy formulation for emerging low-emission technologies.

Funded by an Ambizione grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation, Zero-AMPS supports one Senior Researcher and one PhD student at ETH Zurich.

Articles

  1. Adrien Mellot, Christian Moretti, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Jan Linder, Niccolò Moro, Siobhan Powell, Jochen Markard, Christian Winzer, Anthony Patt, 2025. Electrification, flexibility or both? Emerging trends in European energy policy. Energy Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2025.114725
  2. Matthias Sulzer, Georgios Mavromatidis, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Michael Wetter, 2025. The energy supply security pyramid: A quantitative framework for planning and policy making. iScience, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.isci.2025.112407
  3. Nuno Bento, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Noah Kittner, 2025. Decline processes in technological innovation systems: Lessons from energy technologies. Research Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2025.105174
  4. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Prakhar Mehta, Danielle Griego, 2023. Let it grow: How community solar policy can increase PV adoption in cities. Energy Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2023.113477
  5. Ryan Hanna, Eugenie Dugoua, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Destenie Nock, Stephanie Arcusa, Sergio Castellanos, Michael R. Davidson et al., 2022. Support for climate policy researchers. Science, https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adf8956
  6. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Christof Knoeri, Joern Hoppmann, Volker Hoffmann, 2022. Beyond innovation and deployment: Modeling the impact of technology-push and demand-pull policies in Germany’s solar policy mix. Research Policy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.respol.2022.104585
  7. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Nicola De Blasio, 2022. Competitive and secure renewable hydrogen markets: three strategic scenarios for the European Union. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.08.170
  8. Lana Ollier, Florence Metz, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Leonhard Späth, Johan Lilliestam, 2022. The European 2030 climate and energy package: do domestic strategy adaptations precede EU policy change? Policy Sciences, doi.org/10.1007/s11077-022-09447-5
  9. Marius Schwarz, Aline Scherrer, Claudia Hohmann, Jonas Heiberg, Andri Brugger, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, 2020. COVID-19 and the academy: It is time for going digital, Energy Research and Social Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101684
  10. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Christof Knoeri, Fabian Rottmann, Volker Hoffmann, 2020. The role of responsiveness in deployment policies: A quantitative, cross-country assessment using agent-based modelling, Applied Energy, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2020.115358
  11. Jochen Markard, Nuno Bento, Noah Kittner, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, 2020. Destined for decline? Examining nuclear energy from a technological innovation systems perspective, Energy Research and Social Science, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2020.101512
  12. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Christof Knoeri, Joern Hoppmann, Volker Hoffmann, 2020. Can designs inspired by control theory keep deployment policies effective and cost-efficient as technology prices fall? Environmental Research Letters, https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab6fbf

Chapters and conference papers

  1. Danielle Griego, Prakhar Mehta, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, 2022. “Solar Energy Communities in the Urban Environment.” In The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Urban and Regional Futures, pp. 1-8. Cham: Springer International Publishing.
  2. Prakhar Mehta, Danielle Griego, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Arno Schlueter, 2019. The impact of self-consumption regulation on individual and community solar PV adoption in Switzerland: an agent-based model, J. Phys.: Conf. Ser. 1343 012143
  3. Ann-Kristin Zobel, Joern Hoppmann, Alejandro Núñez Jiménez, 2017. Unblocking Bottlenecks in Nascent Innovation Ecosystems: How Bottlenecks Impact Firm Collaboration, Academy of Management Proceedings Vol. 2017, No. 1, pp. 13336.
  4. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Raed Bkayrat, 2015. Utility scale 1,500 VDC PV power plant architecture evolution: Advantages and challenges, Integration of Renewable Energy into High and Medium Voltage Systems Conference & Exhibition, September 15-16, 2015, Amman, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.
  5. Reinier Verhoog, Kemal Armada, Paul Adrianus Van Baal, Gebran El Dabbak, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, 2015. Modelling and simulation of renewable energy transitions: nuclear phase-out in Switzerland, International Symposium for Next Generation Infrastructure (no online version)

Reports and policy briefs

  1. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Nicola De Blasio, 2024. The international dimension of renewable hydrogen. Papeles de Energía.
  2. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Nicola De Blasio, 2022. The future of renewable hydrogen in the European Union: Market and geopolitical implications. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School. https://nrs.harvard.edu/URN-3:HUL.INSTREPOS:37372476
  3. Nicola De Blasio, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, 2021. The European Union at a Crossroads: Unlocking Renewable Hydrogen’s Potential. Policy Brief, November 2021.
  4. Nicola De Blasio, Fridolin Pflugmann, Henry Lee, Charles Hua, Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Phoebe Fallon, 2021, Mission Hydrogen: Accelerating the Transition to a Low Carbon Economy. Edited by Nicola De Blasio. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School.
  5. Nicola De Blasio, Charles Hua, and Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, 2021, Sustainable Mobility: Renewable Hydrogen in the Transport Sector, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School.
  6. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, and Silvia Binet, 2018, Future of Energy by Young leaders for Energy and Sustainability 2018, Young leaders in Energy and Sustainability (YES-Europe).
  7. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, 2017, Energy Students And Young Professionals’ Support Needs: An Online Survey Across Europe, Young leaders in Energy and Sustainability (YES-Europe).
  8. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, 2016, The influence of bottlenecks on firms’ collaboration patterns in innovation ecosystems. An empirical analysis of the solar photovoltaic industry. Master’s Thesis at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).
  9. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Reiner Verhoog, Matthias Finger, 2015. Enhancing PV systems adoption by Swiss households: A system dynamics policy analysis, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).
  10. Alejandro Nuñez-Jimenez, Adriano Viana Ensinas, François Maréchal, 2014. Review of lignocellulosic biomass pretreatments from a biorefinery perspective, at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL).