The Hydropower Development Program
The international master degree program in Hydropower
Introduction
The hydropower sector encompasses a broad range of expertise, from identifying and optimizing water resources to trading in the energy market. In the Hydropower Development Program, you can choose to specialize in a specific field or become a hydropower generalist with in-depth knowledge across multiple areas. The program is designed to provide you with the best possible education tailored to your interests in hydropower and energy management.
With more than 100 years of experience, Norway is at the forefront of sustainable hydropower development and operation. NTNU has been instrumental throughout this history and is an internationally leading university in hydropower technologies and sustainable hydropower operation. In the Hydropower Development program, all these areas of expertise at NTNU are brought together to provide students with the best possible selection of courses and specializations in hydropower and energy management.
Program Content
The program consists of 6 profiles that together covers the core fields of hydropower. Choosing one of these profiles means that you will complete a project and a hydropower-oriented master's thesis within this field. The profiles are:
In this profile you will learn about the different components of a hydropower system and how they can be constructed and optimized to ensure the best possible economic and environmental design and utilization of water resources while maintaining the highest standards of operational safety.
You can choose various topics for the project and the master related to hydropower structures, hydrological or hydraulic issues within hydropower, environmental assessment related topics or management of the water resources and more depending on your interests.
In this profile you will learn about mechanical components in hydropower, turbines, gates, and their optimization. NTNU has a turbinelab designed for testing and optimizing turbines and related components where several master students have conducted their research.
The focus here is on the electrical components of hydropower, generators, transformers, and grid integration. The hydroelectrical components constitutes to a significant portion of the total cost of a hydropower system and is thus an important part both in the planning process and in the operation and maintainance of the hydropower plant
The energy market is important for the optimization and the operation of the hydropower system and here you will learn how hydropower and the energy market interact. You will have the opportunity to learn how the hydropower scheduling are optimized to electricity price variation and the availability of water given the environmental and hydraulic restrictions in the water course
In this profile you will learn how economic and financial aspects, as a key driver for hydropower projects, can be leveraged in order to analyse potential projects and to support decisions for operating and renewing existing hydropower plants.
Tunnels and underground constructions is an important part in hydropower planning and in this profile you will learn about the important properties to consider in the planning and operational phase of a hydropower system. Based on this knowledge you will do a project in 3rd semester within hydropower related underground topics as a preparation for a master thesis focused on a geology within hydropower.
The general program design is as follows
| Semester | 7,5 stp | 7,5 stp | 7,5 stp | 7,5 stp | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st – Autumn | TVM4105 Hydrology | TVM5125 Hydraulic Design | K-emne * | Select from Profile | |
| 2nd – Spring | TVM5135 Planning of Hydropower | TEP4851 Experts in Teamwork – Hydropower Village |
Select from Profile | Select from Profile | |
| 3rd – Autumn | TVM5132 Prefeasibility Study in Hydropower Development | Project and specialization course | |||
| Project within selected profile | Select from Profile* | Select from Profile | |||
| 4th – Spring | Master's thesis – A Hydropower – energy system related topic within selected Profile | ||||