The first hydropower plant in Iceland started operation in 1904 in Hafnafjörður. Reykjavík saw its first hydropower plant set up in 1921 and Akureyri in 1922. With these plants, the electricity market in Iceland was created. In 1965, Iceland established the national power company Landsvirkjun to “optimize the country’s natural energy resources and to encourage foreign investors within power-intensive industries to invest in Iceland.” Bigger hydropower development started in the early 1970s. Today, the country has an installed hydropower power generation capacity of 2,204 MW. This represents around  72% of the whole power generation capacity in Iceland. Iceland participated actively in the development and establishment of the Hydropower Sustainability Assessment Protocol and was one of the early supporters and is actively an active user. Icelandic companies have been engaged internationally in the development of hydropower plants of various sizes. Be in touch should you be interested in learning more.

Hydroelectric power is produced from moving water. Because the source of hydroelectric power is water, hydroelectric power plants are usually located on or near a water source. The volume of the water flow and the change in elevation (or fall) from one point to another determine the amount of available energy in moving water.