RARIK is an energy company in Iceland. It began operations on January 1, 1947. It currently operates electricity distribution networks in rural Iceland, with its subsidiary Orkusalan selling wholesale electricity production from its handful of small

hydroelectric Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is Electricity generation, electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies 15% of the world's electricity, almost 4,210 TWh in 2023, which is more than all other Renewable energ ...

plants. It is a

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

enterprise. It also operates a number of

geothermal Geothermal is related to energy and may refer to: * Geothermal energy, useful energy generated and stored in the Earth * Geothermal activity, the range of natural phenomena at or near the surface, associated with release of the Earth's internal he ...

district heating District heating (also known as heat networks) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heater, space heating and w ...

networks in rural Iceland. In the early years RARIK built several power plants and in 1954 enacted a 10-year

electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

plan to provide remote rural areas with electricity. RARIK built, among others, the Lagarfoss and Mjólká power stations, both of which began operating in 1975. As of 2024, 77% of their network is underground, due to Iceland's harsh weather conditions and aims to be 100% underground by 2035.

References

External links

Official site
Energy companies of Iceland Energy companies established in 1947 1947 establishments in Iceland {{energy-company-stub