”Power System Economics – the Nordic Electricity Market” is a textbook that embodies years of work. Most of the book is based on lecture notes from the “Energy markets” course which has been taught at NTNU since 2001. The author is Professor Ivar Wangensteen at NTNU’s Department of Electric Power Engineering.

The book is written in English since from next year onwards the course will also be taught in English. The course is part of the international master's programme ”Electric Power Engineering” which was introduced in the autumn of 2006. However, many of the students on the ‘energy and environment’ programme of study and other programmes also attend these lectures.

The book provides insights into the theoretical basis and the practical implementation of the reform initiated in the Norwegian and Nordic energy markets from 1990 onwards. It also views the subject historically. Traditional production planning is described and we also see know how procedures and planning tools have been adapted to the new situation. The power grid is given a lot of attention and it is demonstrated how we can achieve optimal transmission tariffs and how bottlenecks can be handled. Other chapters are devoted to the costs and monopolistic regulation of network activities. 

Separate sections focus on system services and how environmental aspects can be taken into account.

In addition to NTNU, the textbook is also used at Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm and it is expected to be introduced in Finland.

Even if the book primarily is meant for students, a lot of the material in it will also be of interest to those working in the energy industry. As it discusses problems that the energy sector has been concerned with for a number of years, much of the material is both relevant and important.

Professor Ivar Wangensteen has written the textbook ”Power System Economics – the Nordic Electricity Market”. Photo: Mette K. Høiseth