In the present electrical market there is an increasing penetration of intermittent energy sources. Several studies have examined its effect on the planning of hydropower operation and the conclusion is that an increasing intermittent production is likely to result in a more variable hydropower operation, utilising a wider span of operational set points. The wear of a hydropower unit is generally at a minimum when operated close to best efficiency and increases when operating at higher or lower set points. This study introduces a method to calculate an operation dependent cost (ODC) function for an arbitrary hydropower unit or unit combination based on vibration measurements and operational data. The method is tested in a case study where an ODC is implemented in Akkats, located in the Small Lule River in order to evaluate its effect on operational pattern, profitability and balancing contribution. The results show that the implemented ODC mainly affects Akkats. For an increasing ODC, Akkats is operated closer to the best point of efficiency and the operational pattern gets less variable and the effect gets more apparent the lower the spot price. Akkats ability to follow the spot price is reduced, decreasing the earning per produced energy with a few percent­ages. Akkats balancing contribution decreases significantly more, due to a less variable operational pattern. The study compares the reduced ODC to the reduced spot income and concludes that the wear cost in Akkats has to be above 1,21 €/MWh in order to be economically feasible to include in the planning. The operational pattern for the simulated river is close to unchanged at highest price hours but during lower price hours an increasing ODC results in an increased production, due to an increasing mean flow and changed operational pattern in Akkats. More production during low prices hours results in a decreasing profitability for all plants along the river. The balancing contribution is close to unchanged in all plants except Akkats, since the production still follows the same pattern.

The importance of highlighting environmental issues is increasing in the society, where profit maximizing organizations are being blamed for the social and environmental externalities. As profit maximizing organizations only responsibility is to increase profits, there is a need to find a way to combine CSR engagement with profit maximization. The traditional view is however, that CSR engagements are considered a burden for companies, thus managers need to have good arguments to engage in CSR. This thesis aims to explore how Swedish commercial real estate companies engage in and report on CSR activities that exceed the minimum rules and regulations, their underlying driving forces to engage in CSR as well as how they take sustainability into account in their business decisions. This is a qualitative study conducted by doing 23 semi-structured interviews with commercial real estate companies. The discussion with the respondents were thematized through thematic analysis. There is inconsistency in previous research which enhances the importance of further studies within the area. The main findings in this study is that companies report on sustainability regardless if they are obligated by law or not, and seem to be driven by the same market forces irrespective of company characteristics, such as profit maximization and powerful stakeholders. First and foremost, it is about signaling to stakeholders that they are legitimate. In accordance with institutional theory the companies are influencing and are being influenced by each other. CSR engagement is stated by the participating companies to create tangible as well as intangible financial benefits. In the analysis the results are put in comparison and in context to previous research as well as established economic and political theories. Practical implications for real estate companies, together with recommendations for the industry is discussed. The authors enhance the importance of a standardized framework for reporting, another point brought up for discussion is that less important stakeholders can over time turn in to more important and that companies need to be aware of this transition. Lastly, a question is raised whether it perhaps would be more beneficial for sustainable development if companies increased their cooperation instead of working with the same things at the same time. In conclusion, a unanimous picture that crystalizes itself is that CSR engagement in profit maximizing organizations is no longer “nice-to-have” but rather a “must-have”. / Behovet av att belysa miljöfrågor ökar i samhället, samtidigt får vinstmaximerande företag skulden för sociala och miljömässiga externaliteter. Eftersom vinstmaximerande bolags enda skyldighet är att öka vinsterna, finns det ett behov av att kombinera hållbarhetsengagemang med vinstmaximering. Den traditionella synen är att hållbarhetsengagemang anses vara en börda för bolag. Därför behöver bolagsledningar ha goda argument för att engagera sig i hållbarhet. Denna uppsats syftar till att undersöka hur svenska kommersiella fastighetsbolag engagerar sig i, och rapporterar om sina hållbarhetsaktiviteter som överskrider minimikraven i svensk lagstiftning. Vidare syftar uppsatsen till att söka förståelse kring bolagens drivkrafter och huruvida hållbarhet beaktas i affärsbeslut. Detta är en kvalitativ undersökning där semistrukturerade intervjuer med representanter från 23 olika kommersiella fastighetsbolag genomförts. Diskussionerna har sedan tematiserats med hjälp av tematisk analys.  Det finns en bristande överensstämmelse inom tidigare forskning vilket belyser behovet av ytterligare studier inom ämnet. De huvudsakliga resultaten i denna studie är att företag rapporterar kring hållbarhet oavsett om de är tvungna att göra det eller ej, vilket tyder på att de drivs av marknadskrafter som vinstmaximering och starka intressentgrupper snarare än lagstiftningen. Först och främst handlar det om ett signalvärde till starka intressentgrupper att bolagen är legitima och trovärdiga. Företagen tycks också inspirera och bli inspirerade av varandra, vilket är i enlighet med institutionell teori. Enligt de deltagande företagen leder hållbarhetsengagemang till såväl immateriella som materiella finansiella fördelar.  I analysen sätts resultaten i sammanhang med tidigare forskning och etablerad ekonomisk och politisk teori. Praktiska konsekvenser för fastighetsbolag, tillsammans med ett antal rekommendationer för industrin diskuteras. Författarna till uppsatsen lyfter fram behovet av ett standardiserat ramverk för rapportering. Vidare diskuteras det faktum att intressentgrupper som idag anses vara mindre viktiga över tid kan övergå till att bli allt viktigare. Slutligen, diskuteras huruvida det hade varit mer fördelaktigt för den hållbara utvecklingen ur ett långsiktigt perspektiv om företag intensifierade samarbetet över bolagsgränserna, istället för att arbeta med samma frågor på var sitt håll. Den bild som tydligt kristalliserar sig är att hållbarhet i vinstmaximerande bolag inte längre anses vara “nice-to-have”, utan att det numera är ett “must-have”.

The growing share of installed wind power in the Swedish electricity system has caused concerns whether the available regulating power will be sufficient. Several studies have examined the need of regulating power using both statistical and modelling approaches. However, there is a risk that some aspects of the short-term regulation of hydropower might have been missed. By using one of Vattenfall’s hydropower planning tools, the short-term operation of The Lule River has been simulated with an increasing penetration of wind power. The tool includes detailed models of reservoirs, generating units including efficiency curves and start/stop costs. By introducing a day-by-day simulation with a seven-day window price forecast, updated with a new wind forecast for each iteration, a 21-days scenario has been simulated. Transmission limits are disregarded and the thermal production is reduced with the average wind production. To quantify and compare the regulation capacity, the regulation factor is introduced. It reflects the ability to utilise high-price hours and considering that the need of regulating power for the short-term perspective is reflected in the price it will also reflect the regulation capacity. It is shown that the regulating factor is correlated to the discharge factor,whichis the relation between the maximum discharge to the average statistical discharge for a plant. A high discharge factor provides the flexibility to utilise the fluctuations in price. The discharge factor is adapted to the plants placement in the reach, accounting for both reservoirs located upstream and downstream, especially for The Lule River which has been designed to regulate for the fluctuations in the load. The flexibility required by the rest of the Nordic rivers is quantified for future studies. It is concluded that The Lule River is able to meet some of the fluctuations of wind power production due to the overcapacity ininstalled power. The production can, at the expense of decreased efficiency of the generating units, alter the production to suit a more fluctuating price.It is important to emphasise that The Lule River alone cannot balance a large penetration of wind power. To fully take into account the effects of a large penetration of wind power the study must be expanded to include more scenarios. The study should include different types of hydrological prerequisites and the seasonal variations in power production as well as additional rivers.