Landsvirkjun chief announces departure after 17 years
Thursday 1st October 2026 on 17:01 in
Iceland
Hörður Arnarson will leave his post as chief executive of power company Landsvirkjun after 17 years, mbl.is reports. His tenure has brought major changes, including improved profitability, lower debt and higher dividends paid to the Icelandic state.
Arnarson joined Landsvirkjun as chief executive in 2009, succeeding Friðrik Sophusson, who had held the position for 11 years. Before that, Arnarson led Marel for a decade, from 1999 to 2009, and spent eight months as chief executive of Sjóvá during its restructuring after Iceland’s financial collapse.
He took the role at 46 and turns 64 later this year. He earned a degree in electrical engineering from the University of Iceland in 1986 and a doctorate from DTU in Copenhagen in 1990.
Large-scale construction was less prominent during Arnarson’s tenure than in the preceding years. Before he took over, the Kárahnjúkar power plant, then the largest construction project in Iceland’s history, and the 90-megawatt Vatnsfell station had both entered service.
Since 2010, four larger power plants have opened: Búðarháls, with a capacity of 95 megawatts, in 2014; the 90-megawatt Þeistareykir geothermal plant in 2017 and 2018; and the 100-megawatt Búrfell II station in 2018. The first large wind farm, Vaðölduver, is now being commissioned and will have a capacity of 120 megawatts when complete.
Landsvirkjun paid down substantial debt and renegotiated contracts with major electricity users during Arnarson’s leadership, securing higher prices for its power. Earlier this year, it repaid the last government-guaranteed bond linked to the Kárahnjúkar project. None of the company’s loans now carry a state guarantee.
The company paid annual dividends of 10 million to 15 million dollars, or about 1.5 billion króna, from 2012 to 2018. In 2016, then finance minister Bjarni Benediktsson said Landsvirkjun might be able to pay 10 billion to 20 billion króna a year within two or three years. He wanted the money to go into a national fund, like Norway’s oil fund.
Dividends began to rise in 2019. Landsvirkjun paid 10 billion króna to the state treasury in 2020, and annual payments have ranged from 17 billion to 30 billion króna since 2022. The company has paid the treasury about 135 billion króna in dividends over the past decade. A national fund has not been established, though discussions about one have resumed.