Iceland: energy engineer and former Landsvirkjun board member to chair the committee that classifies future power plants

Iceland's Ministry of the Environment, Energy and Climate announced on 3 November that Gunnar Tryggvason has been appointed chair of the steering committee for the 6th phase of Rammaáætlun, the master plan for nature protection and energy utilisation. He succeeds Svanfríður Jónasdóttir.

Who he is. According to the ministry, Gunnar Tryggvason is an electrical power engineer with a master's degree from the University of Karlsruhe and a bachelor's degree from the University of Iceland, and has decades of experience in the energy sector, including in the aluminium industry and in financial advisory work for the energy sector. He sat on the board of Landsvirkjun for seven years and is currently harbour director of Faxaflóahafnir.

The committee's role. The committee advises the Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate on the protection and energy use of land areas. Its six members were appointed in summer 2025. According to the description of the process, the committee proposes placing projects in the utilisation, on-hold or protection category, and the minister submits the proposal to Parliament.

The debate. The appointment follows the publication on 29 October by the Iceland Chamber of Commerce (Viðskiptaráð) of the analysis “Kraftur í kortunum”, which proposes abolishing Rammaáætlun and setting an official target of doubling electricity production by 2040. According to the analysis, around 150 projects assessed under the plan could produce more than 80 TWh a year, compared with 18.8 TWh generated in 2025, while production has been flat since 2017; the Hvammsvirkjun hydropower plant will be commissioned 32 years after it was first assessed. Writer Andri Snær Magnason sharply criticised the report, describing it as full of errors, while the Chamber's economist, Ragnar Sigurður Kristjánsson, told Vísir that the laws on nature conservation and planning provide sufficient safeguards.

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