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CenSES annual report 2013
34
Education
Master students
In 2013 approximately 70 master students wrote their
thesis on environmentally friendly energy systems and
markets in CenSES.
PhD students
There were 26 PhD studets funded by CenSES, and
one of these students graduated during the year.
Further to this, an additional 21 PhD students were
employed in related projects with funding from other
sources. These students were invited to participate in
events organized by CenSES.
Cooperation with NFB
CenSES has from the start cooperated with the Na-
tional research school on business economics and
administration (NFB) hosted by NHH. Professor Steven
A. Gabriel from University of Maryland is financed
in a 15% adjunct professor position at NTNU partly
financed by CenSES and NFB.
Examples of PhD courses given in 2013
•
Introduction course in complementarity models
and equilibrium (Steven A. Gabriel)
•
Advanced course in complementarity models and
equilibrium (Steven A. GAbriel)
•
Winter School in stocastic programming with ap-
plications in energy and natural resources
•
Investment Under Uncertainty (Afzal, Siddiqui)
•
Energy markets (Asgeir Tomasgard and Stein-Erik
Fleten).
PhD network trip to Renewable Land
PhD students in social sciences conduct research on
how the development and use of renewable energy
influences society and vice versa. In May 2013, CenSES
organised a PhD School in Sogn og Fjordane, where
students had the possibility to study this in a closer
perspective.
The week long trip had two purposes. First, visits to
hydropower plants and dams gave the students the
possibility to see in practice how most of the Norwe-
gian power is produced and its flexibility. Second, the
visits to companies, research centres and government
offices was a great opportunity to get first-hand infor-
mation about possibilities and challenges for environ-
mentally friendly energy in a region rich on resources.
Around 20 bachelor students and 20 researchers parti-
cipated in the tour organized by staff at Vestlandsfor-
sking, Høgskulen i Sogn og Fjordane and Kunnskaps-
parken. Among the stops during the week were:
- Statkraft: Jostedalen hydropower plant
- HiSF: Sogndal campus
- Sogn og Fjordane fylkeskommune
- Kaupanger Energy (small hydropower)
- Statnett: Fardal - Ørskog grid development
- Cool Flame Technologies (fuel cell start up Høyanger)
- Sparebanken Sogn og Fjordane
- Sogn og Fjordane energi
- Vestavindkraft (wind power development, Sandane)
- Fjordvarme (district heating, Nordfjordeid)
- Mehuken wind farm
- Easy form (manufacturing, Måløy)
- Stadt Towing Tank.
Master thesis: Investment in hydropower
plants under uncertainty
This master thesis by Maria Tandberg Nygård (IØT,
NTNU) investigates the behaviour of investors in small
hydropower related to the introduction of the green
certificate market. By using a real options model and
data on investments from 2001-2008, the analysis
studies the implicit expected subsidy investors were
assuming when making their decision.
The analysis shows that the investors were expecting
subsidies comparable with subsidies seen in Sweden.
Additional results using a NPV model shows that the
average investor did not trust the introduction of a
certificate market and invested knowing that the pro-
ject would be profitable without subsidies.
Master thesis: Day-ahead electricity market
bidding for a cascaded reservoir system - A
stochastic programming approach
This thesis by master students Ellen K. Aasgård og
Gørild Andersen (IØT, NTNU) implements and tests a
stochastic optimization model for bidding and short-
term production planning.
The model is tested using a simulation algorithm for a
complex cascaded reservoir system. The results shows
that using a stochastic model gives an improvement
in average prices and total value for the hydropower
resource as compared with a deterministic model.