PhD candidate: Hanne Bjørnås Krogstie 

The purpose of this PhD project is to study the effects of environmental variation of freshwater communities using hydropower reservoirs as case studies. The system in focus will be freshwater lake community structure and functioning, and have an emphasis on littoral communities. The work will be based upon aggregation of existing biodiversity data enabling the study of regional patterns in biodiversity responses to hydropower activities. 

Supervisors:  

Anders G. Finstad, Department of Natural History, NTNU (main) 

Gaute Kjærstad, Department of Natural History, NTNU 

Irja Ida Ratikainen, Department of Biology, NTNU 

Sara Heidenreich, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, NTNU 

PhD candidate: Sif de Visser 

The topic of this specific PhD project is the development of life cycle assessment (LCA) models and applications related to hydropower production. By quantifying the impacts of land use, water consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and other environmental impacts the overall ecosystem quality impact of hydropower is assessed. This will result in a global screening to identify potential hotspots of impact. Besides, transformative electricity market scenarios will be assessed. 

Supervisors:  

Francesca Verones (main), Department of Energy and Process Engineering, NTNU 

Martin Dorber, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, NTNU 

Tor Haakon Bakken, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NTNU 

Irja Ida Ratikainen, Department of Biology, NTNU 

PhD candidate: Viviane Aubin 

This PhD will look into possible limitations on hydropower flexibility use. It will investigate how using flexible hydropower for integration of VRE translates into environmental impacts through different water management regimes, and power grids recourse to other resources. We will also investigate interactions between markets mechanisms and hydropower flexibility in power grids presenting a large share of VRE, while considering environmental constraints.  

Supervisors: 

Magnus Korpås (main), Department of Electric Power Engineering, NTNU  

Francesca Verones, Department of Energy and Process Engineering, NTNU 

Stein-Erik Fleten, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology, NTNU 

PhD candidate: Lennart Schönfelder 

Hydropower reservoir operation is confronted with trade-offs and synergies with other water uses, typical uses include water supply, irrigation, and flood control. Water availability and demand have different seasonal trends, and demand dynamics are dependent on economic, ecological, and societal factors. An optimal operation and management to consider all stakeholder needs are ideally based on optimization and simulation models. In this project, we intent to consider all uses and find a system-wide socio-economic maximum by assessing hydrological risks and optimization. 

Supervisors:  

Tor Haakon Bakken (main), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering 

Magnus Korpås (co), Department of Electric Power Engineering, NTNU 

PhD candidate: Shaua Fui Chen  

This research is a comparative examination of hydropower development and management in Norway and Malaysia utilizing science and technology studies (STS) theories. The study aims to understand how the concepts of sustainability and energy justice are understood and practiced in hydropower development in both countries. The study is relevant as there is a renewed interest in the future role of hydropower to balance the intermittency of other renewable energy sources and as energy storage in supporting the sustainable energy transition. These new roles open up controversies and conflicts which we should study. 

Supervisors:   

Sara Heidenreich, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, NTNU (main) 

Tomas Moe Skjølsvold, Department of Interdisciplinary Studies of Culture, NTNU 

Stein-Erik Fleten, Department of Industrial Economics and Technology Management 

PhD candidate: Christianne Dalsbotten Solvåg 

The aim of this PhD project is to investigate how invertebrate species are affected by the environmental variability induced by regulating a lake for hydropower purposes. Specifically, the plan is to focus on how changes in water level fluctuations affect the phenology of invertebrate species in the littoral zone, and if different life history traits may contribute to explaining why some species are more affected than others. The work will consist of both field studies and theoretical optimization models and simulations. 

Supervisors: 

Irja Ida Ratikainen, Department of Biology, NTNU (main) 

Anders G. Finstad, Department of Natural History, NTNU  

Ingeborg Palm Helland, NINA  

PhD candidate: Hossein Babazadeh  

The project aimed at seeking a decision model for operations of jointly owned hydropower reservoirs. In this project, the focus will be on studying how the interests and distinct expectations of the owners are and should be balanced with sustainability issues and interests of other stakeholders. The project’s goals are subjected to some sort of uncertainty in electricity markets. 

Supervisors: 

Stein-Erik Fleten (main), Department of Industrial Economics and Technology, NTNU 

Tor Haakon Bakken (co-supervisor), Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, NTNU