Impacts of the North Atlantic Oscillation on Scandinavian hydropower production and energy markets

Summary, in English

Dramatic swings in the North Atlantic oscillation (NAO) during the 1990s motivated the authors to build a statistical model of NAO impacts on hydropower production and energy markets in Scandinavia. Variation in the NAO index is shown to explain 55% of the variance of streamflow in Norway and up to 30% of the variance in Norway's hydropower output. It is also possible to identify the influence of NAO anomalies on electricity consumption and prices. Government liberalization allowed a financial market to grow around the international trading of electricity, which in Norway is produced almost entirely from hydropower. The model offers a possible tool for predicting the effects of future NAO movements on hydropower production and energy prices in Scandinavia. The potential influence of skillful climate prediction is discussed.

• Författare: J Cherry; H Cullen; M Visbeck; A Small; Cintia Bertacchi Uvo
• Avdelning/ar: Avdelningen för Teknisk vattenresurslära
• Publiceringsår: 2005
• Språk: Engelska
• Sidor: 673-691
• Publikation/Tidskrift/Serie: Water Resources Management
• Volym: 19
• Issue: 6
• Länkar: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11269-005-3279-z
• Dokumenttyp: Artikel i tidskrift
• Förlag: Springer
• Ämne: Water Engineering
• Nyckelord: hydropower; energy; North Atlantic oscillation; social impacts; impacts; climate
• Status: Published
• ISBN/ISSN/Övrigt: ISSN: 0920-4741