hydropower development

The Alchemists: Turning wild water into white coal

How Norwegian scientists and engineers harnessed the country’s wild waterfalls by developing super efficient turbines — and how advances in turbine technology being developed now may be the future in a zero-carbon world.

Kurobe dam

Retrofitting dams for more renewable energy in the world

Many of the world’s dams are not used for hydropower, but a new study shows they could be easily altered to produce renewable energy. This would be the most sustainable solution for new energy production in the world, says NTNU Professor Tor Haakon Bakken.

Smart site selection can make hydropower greener

Even though new hydropower dam developments are intended to provide green energy, they can drown areas that are rich in plant and animal species. But this kind of collateral damage can be limited by strategic site selection, a new study shows.

One hundred years of producing energy — from water

The 1969 discovery of oil at the Ekofisk field in the North Sea transformed Norway into an internationally important energy nation. But long before black gold was being pumped from the Norwegian Continental Shelf, Norway’s economy was fuelled by a different kind of energy: hydropower.

Helping today’s power companies anticipate tomorrow

It’s not easy for big, profitable companies to respond to huge technological changes. One NTNU researcher hopes to help Norway’s electric power industry cope with the market challenges from renewable energy and changed consumer behaviour.

Norway can be Europe’s green battery

Norwegian hydropower could make Norway the “green battery” of Europe — not by building new power plants, but by further developing those we have.