Fljótsdalsvirkjun (Kárahnjúkar ) is a 690 MW hydro power station in East, Iceland. It is operated by Landsvirkjun. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 691k homes (estimated). It ranks #1 of 20 Iceland power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2008, it is around 18 years old — relatively modern. As a non-combustion source, it has no direct CO₂ emissions from generation. In context, hydro supplies about 70.7% of Iceland's electricity; the national grid averages 28 gCO₂/kWh (100.0% low-carbon) (2024).
Plant data: WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0), id WRI1002794.
Known, modelled and calculated values are kept separate. Missing fields are shown as unavailable.
The capacity and/or fuel fields on this page include a source-backed provenance label from GEM, an official registry, Wikidata, OSM, or a cross-source match.
capacity: GEM tracker 2026 (location L100000601800); fuel: WRI source-record fuel
At 690 MW, Fljótsdalsvirkjun (Kárahnjúkar ) is well above the median hydro plant in Iceland (95 MW). Technically it is described as conventional storage. Hydropower converts the energy of falling or flowing water into electricity; output depends on rainfall and reservoir level, and large dams also provide grid balancing and storage.
Capacity comparison computed from the WRI Global Power Plant Database; fuel-type context is general engineering background.
Installed capacity (MW), WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0).
Operated by Landsvirkjun. All plants by this company →
This hydro plant converts the energy of falling or flowing water through hydro turbines. It sits in a polar tundra climate (Köppen ET) — Northern Hemisphere, latitude 64.9°N — which shapes how much energy it can produce and how its output varies through the year.
Monthly mean temperature
Heating degree-days here run 155% above the median power plant in this dataset — a proxy for how much extra energy heated equipment must replace through its surfaces in winter.
Climate heat-demand index: 99/100 — this site sits in the top third of the power plants we cover by heating degree-days.
Climate normals: WorldClim 2.1 (1970–2000 monthly normals, 10 arc-min, CC BY 4.0); zone: Köppen-Geiger world climate classification (Kottek et al. 2006, 0.5° grid). Degree-days & heat-demand index computed by PowerAtlas — a modelled heat-demand proxy, not a measured site figure.
For a plant’s outdoor hardware — heat-recovery steam generators (HRSG), expansion joints, valves, flanges and their insulation — the local climate sets how fast unprotected steel and coatings degrade. This site sits in a benign, low-corrosion environment (estimated ISO 9223 class C1 — Very low), with marine corrosion the leading environmental stress.
Higher environmental severity is exactly where protective removable insulation pays back most: a sheltered micro-climate slows corrosion, UV and thermal-cycling damage and extends outdoor hardware service life. This is an indicative site-climate context — not a condition assessment of any specific plant or operator.
Indicative estimate via the ISO 9223:2012 informative method (atmospheric corrosivity from temperature, time-of-wetness and airborne salinity), using WorldClim climate normals, the Köppen-Geiger class and coast distance. Indicative, not a measured corrosion rate.
The #1 largest hydro power plant of 14 in Iceland by capacity.
Iceland has 14 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 1,918 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 64.9471, -15.7931 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
Fljótsdalsvirkjun (Kárahnjúkar ) is a 690 MW source-record hydro power plant in East, Iceland, commissioned in 2008.
Its output is enough to supply roughly 690,788 homes (estimated).
Fljótsdalsvirkjun (Kárahnjúkar ) is operated by Landsvirkjun.
