ORKUVEITA REYKJAVIKUR SF

Their core work

Reykjavik Energy is Iceland's major geothermal utility company, operating large-scale geothermal power and heating systems. In H2020, they contribute real-world geothermal infrastructure as a testing ground for carbon capture and mineralization, geothermal fluid chemistry, corrosion-resistant materials, and drilling optimization. Their unique position as an active geothermal operator — not just a research body — means they bring operational data, field-scale demonstration sites, and practical engineering constraints that laboratory-based partners cannot provide.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the early period (2017–2018), Reykjavik Energy focused heavily on CO2 capture and subsurface mineralization — their CarbFix2 coordination and participation in S4CE and GECO were all about turning geothermal emissions into permanently stored minerals. From 2019 onward, the emphasis shifted toward geothermal operational efficiency: scaling prevention, fluid property optimization, advanced heat exchangers, drilling optimization with machine learning, and even community-scale energy integration through SPARCs. This evolution suggests a maturing organization moving from proving that carbon mineralization works at scale to optimizing the full geothermal value chain.

Reykjavik Energy is expanding from carbon capture demonstration toward digitalized, efficiency-driven geothermal operations — expect future interest in AI-assisted plant management and smart energy integration.

How they like to work

Reykjavik Energy operates primarily as a participant (8 of 9 projects), contributing operational infrastructure and field data rather than leading research design. They coordinated CarbFix2 — their flagship carbon mineralization project — which shows they can lead when the topic is core to their operations. With 121 unique partners across 22 countries, they maintain a broad European network, functioning as a sought-after demonstration site partner that multiple consortia want access to.

Extensive network of 121 unique partners spanning 22 countries, reflecting high demand for their real-world geothermal infrastructure as a demonstration and validation site. Their geographic reach is pan-European despite being based in Iceland.

What sets them apart

Reykjavik Energy is one of very few H2020 participants that operates large-scale geothermal systems commercially while simultaneously hosting research demonstrations — they are not a lab, they are a live utility. Their CarbFix carbon mineralization work is globally recognized, making them the go-to partner for anyone needing to test CO2 storage, geothermal fluid handling, or plant optimization under real operating conditions in basaltic geology. For consortium builders, they offer something rare: access to a full-scale geothermal operation willing to integrate experimental technologies into production systems.

Highlights from their portfolio

• CarbFix2
  Their only coordinated project and the scale-up of Iceland's pioneering CarbFix carbon mineralization method — one of the most cited geothermal CO2 storage initiatives globally.
• GECO
  Largest single EC contribution (EUR 1.16M) focused on geothermal emission control, combining CCS, CCU, and non-condensable gas management at industrial scale.
• OptiDrill
  Their most recent project (2021), applying machine learning to geothermal drilling — signals their move toward digitalization of geothermal operations.