A Comprehensive Simulator for Hydropower Investment Decisions

Due to a higher share of power production from renewable sources with high short-term variation, hydro systems must more often operate closer to their components' physical limits. To simulate system behaviour, a hydropower system simulator must therefore include most physical details. We present a simulator for hydropower investment analysis that combines a medium-term production planning model based on stochastic dual dynamic programming principles with a detailed and deterministic short-term hydro scheduling model. To reduce computation times, the system description for the short-term model may include only a snipped subset of the plants and reservoirs without deteriorating the results. The simulator is verified in a case study where an investment decision has been analysed for a Norwegian hydropower producer. The combination of medium-term optimization and short-term, detailed simulation is a useful decision support tool and provides both economic results and detailed physical information about the system behaviour.A Comprehensive Simulator for Hydropower Investment DecisionsacceptedVersio

Measuring the Impact of Environmental Constraints on Hydropower Flexibility

Implementation of EU’s Water Framework directive, meant to ensure sustainability of the hydropower production, may lead to new environmental constraints on hydropower systems. This can result in loss of production, reduced operational flexibility and consequently reduced income from production. Flexibility is here defined as the ability to adapt production to variations in power prices, whereas the production income is strongly influenced by the price level and sum production. This paper presents and evaluates two different measures that are used to quantify how new constraints affect system flexibility in the Norway and Sweden. These measures are the established Flexibility Factor, comparing achieved price with average price, and an imaginary equivalent electrical storage unit, which is parametrized by the equivalent storage and power capacity needed to compensate for the lost flexibility. The calculation and evaluation of the two measures are exemplified using two Norwegian water courses.Measuring the Impact of Environmental Constraints on Hydropower FlexibilityacceptedVersio

The REPowerEU policy’s impact on the Nordic power system

Energy system models provide us with scenarios for the future energy system, supporting our understanding of the impact of societal changes and adopted policies. To front-load the EU’Fit for 55’ package for 2030 and targets of replacing imported natural gas with renewable electricity, the Nordic countries could contribute by exporting additional electricity to mainland Europe. This paper describes a comparative study including five energy system models – GENeSYS-MOD, ON-TIMES, IFE-TIMES-Norway, highRES, and IntERACT, exploring two decarbonisation scenarios leading up to 2050. The scenarios involved simulating an additional 30 TWh electricity export requirement from 2030. Key findings include Denmark and Norway emerging as major net exporters, with Denmark covering over 60% of the additional export. The models predict that 76%–82% of the new electricity production will come from wind power, split between onshore and offshore installations, highlighting significant investment requirements. These results underscore the Nordic countries’ capacity to support the EU’s renewable energy targets, with wind power being pivotal. This research offers a broad overview over different modelling tools and their behaviour and provides critical insights for policymakers, stressing the need for coordinated Nordic efforts to maximise the benefits of increased electricity exports while ensuring energy system stability and cost-efficiency.The REPowerEU policy’s impact on the Nordic power systempublishedVersio

Bioenergy and links to agriculture & LULUCF in a Nordic context

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Autonomous ballistic airdrop of objects from a small fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle

Autonomous airdrop is a useful basic operation for a fixed-wing unmanned aerial system. Being able to deliver an object to a known target position extends operational range without risking human lives, but is still limited to known delivery locations. If the fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicle delivering the object could also recognize its target, the system would take one step further in the direction of autonomy. This paper presents a closed-loop autonomous delivery system that uses machine vision to identify a target marked with a distinct colour, calculates the geographical coordinates of the target location and plans a path to a release point, where it delivers the object. Experimental results present a visual target estimator with a mean error distance of 3.4 m and objects delivered with a mean error distance of 5.5 m

Increased electrification – new generators and consumers. Nordic Energy Outlooks - Final report WP2

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Increased electrification – new generators and consumers. Nordic Energy Outlooks - Final report WP2

publishedVersio

Bioenergy and links to agriculture & LULUCF in a Nordic context

publishedVersio