The Norwegian energy debate is increasingly centred on the challenge of securing sufficient emission-free energy for the future.
Highlighted in the Energy Commission’s report, NOU 2023:3 «More of Everything Faster», this discussion emphasizes the urgent need to expand energy production using sustainable sources. A central metric in this discussion is the Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) of different energy sources, which measures the average cost of electricity generation over a facility’s lifetime.
However, LCOE has limitations. It fails to reflect the lower earnings from unregulated power sources like solar and wind compared to regulated hydropower, which profits from higher market prices. It also overlooks the substantial system costs required for integrating unregulated power, including necessary grid and storage upgrades, and does not account for the environmental impacts associated with different energy sources.
In this talk, Martin Hjelmeland will address these shortcomings and examine the true costs of energy sources, considering their broader system and societal impacts.
Martin Hjelmeland is a researcher at the Department of Electric Energy at NTNU, where he is a member of the ”Electricity Markets and Energy Systems Planning” research group. His research interests lie in the integration of low-carbon energy sources in the energy system, with a particular focus on the role of nuclear energy. He is currently involved in the ”Nuclear Energy’s role in a Renewable Energy System (NERES)” strategic research project.
Future Energy Hub is a collaborative project between the University of Stavanger and regional industries funded by the Research Council of Norway. The purpose of Future Energy Hub is to build a regional ecosystem for research and innovation for the urban decentralised renewable energy systems of tomorrow. Our research and innovation activities focus on the integration of various renewable energy technologies, energy efficiency, energy storage, load balancing, systems optimization, energy planning, and policy that will enable the local and regional energy systems of the future.