Company Overview
Founded in 2005, Landsnet hf. owns and operates all major electricity transmission lines in Iceland. The transmission system consists of power lines with voltages of 66 kV and higher, some 33 kV lines and all major substations in the country. The vast majority of the company’s transmission lines are overhead lines and the largest part of the Grid’s transmission infrastructure operates at a voltage from 66 to 220 kV.
The transmission system carries electricity from generation companies to utilities and power-intensive industries and includes more than 3,270km of transmission lines and about 75 substations and transformer stations. All power stations with a capacity of 10.0 MW and higher must be connected to the Grid.
A large part of Landsnet’s business involves the operation and maintenance of the electricity transmission lines and transformer stations that it owns. As a Transmission System Operator (TSO), Landsnet also has a system-wide responsibility for the entire Icelandic electricity system. Overall, the system responsibility covers:
Responsibility for the operational security of the electricity transmission system as a whole and its management
Balancing electricity supply and demand
Maintaining the grid´s capacities on a long-term basis, shaping and constructing the future grid
Ensuring equal access to the grid and promoting an active electricity market
In Iceland, there is one single defined transmission system which connects a number of distribution networks. The distribution networks are regional and carry power to consumers in their respective regions.
Landsnet is subject to regulation by the National Energy Authority (“NEA” or Orkustofnun). The NEA determines the revenue cap on which Landsnet’s tariff is based. As a natural monopoly Landsnet’s operations are regulated by the NEA who sets an annual limit, a revenue cap, for Landsnet’s the maximum revenues. The purpose of the revenue cap is to promote efficiency in the operation of Landsnet and to ensure a reasonable return on investment.