Vatnsfell is a 90 MW hydro power plant in South, Iceland. It is operated by Landsvirkjun. Based on its capacity (estimated), it can supply roughly 90,102 homes (estimated). It ranks #11 of 20 Iceland power plants by installed capacity. Commissioned in 2001, it is around 25 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 WRI1002811.
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 64.2°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 152% 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.
In colder climates, uninsulated hot equipment (boilers, turbines, valves, steam lines) loses proportionally more heat to ambient air — exactly the loss Inzonex modular insulation is designed to cut.
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.
The #8 largest hydro power plant of 14 in Iceland by capacity.
Iceland has 14 hydro power plants in this dataset, together about 1,913 MW of capacity.
Coordinates 64.1966, -19.0341 from WRI Global Power Plant Database (CC BY 4.0). View on OpenStreetMap.
