Hydroelectric Power

Mannvit has decades of experience in the development of hydroelectric power, having participated in the design and/or construction of most of the hydropower plants and dams that have been built in Iceland since 1970.  Mannvit has also been heavily involved in small hydropower projects in Iceland, Norway and Greenland.

Hydropower can provide important services to electric power systems. Hydropower plants can often be operated flexibly, and therefore are valuable to electric power systems. Specifically, with its rapid response load-following and balancing capabilities, peaking capacity and power quality attributes, hydropower can play an important role in ensuring a reliable electricity service.

Hydropower offers significant potential for carbon emissions reductions; however, environmental and social issues will often affect hydropower deployment opportunities. The local social and environmental impacts of hydropower projects vary depending on the project’s type, size and local conditions. Some of the more prominent impacts include changes in flow regimes and water quality, barriers to fish migration, loss of biological diversity, and population displacement.