Iceland School of Energy Fall/Winter Newsletter Menntavegi 1, 101 Reykjavík

+354 599 6200 15.01.2016

WELCOME TO 2016 FROM THE ICELAND SCHOOL OF ENERGY!

A total of 23 students from around the world joined the Iceland School of Energy for their first

semester of the MSc in Sustainable Energy Engineering and Science programs. This newsletter

will highlight just a few of the stories from Fall/Winter 2015/2016.

To see more about the Class of 2017, check out our Facebook and Twitter!

ICELAND SCHOOL OF ENERGY´S ENERGY SECURITY FORUM AND

ROUNDTABLES – OCTOBER 2015

Left: President of Iceland, Mr. Olarfur Ragnar Grimsson. Top to bottom: Dr. Ignacio Pérez-Arriaga, Dr. Charles Ebinger, Dr. William Moomaw, Dr. Friðrik Már

Baldursson

For the 2nd year, ISE held a forum in in collaboration with the Arctic Circle Conference on energy

security issues. This event brought together leading experts from the Harvard Kennedy School

of Government, the Fletcher School at Tufts University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology,

Reykjavik University and the Brookings Institution, as well as key local experts from Landsvirkjun,

The National Power Company

of Iceland, and Landsnet, The

National Transmission System

Operator of Iceland. The

forum focused on the current

energy security challenges in

isolated areas, with a global

and local arctic perspective.

ISE and Reykjavik University

welcomed over 100

participants in October´s

event. The President of

Iceland, Mr. Olafur Ragnar

Grimsson, addressed the conference. After the forum with formalized presentations, young

professionals in the energy industry were broken up into roundtables which provided attendees

an opportunity for discussion with the experts who had been assembled together. ISE would

like to thank all of the participants and extend an invitation to the Fletcher School at Tufts

University, the Harvard Kennedy School, MIT and Brooking Institution’s Energy Security and

Climate Change Initiative back to Iceland for more interesting conversations.

ICELAND SCHOOL OF ENERGY´S MEET THE INDUSTRY

Throughout their studies, ISE students are given multiple opportunities to meet the energy

industry. This semester, ISE hosted meetings with industry experts from Landsvirkjun, Green

Energy Group, Iceland Geothermal Cluster, and Orkuveitan (Reykjavik Energy). These meet-and-

greets allowed students to sit down, learn about the companies and meet the experts. Students

have the opportunity to network and explore potential future research projects as well.

Iceland School of Energy Fall/Winter Newsletter Menntavegi 1, 101 Reykjavík

+354 599 6200 15.01.2016

UN CHRONICLE FEATURE ON ICELAND– THE MAGAZINE OF THE UN

The Director of ISE, Halla Hrund Lógadóttir, authored an article in the December 2015 edition of

the UN Chronicle which is the magazine of the UN. The piece focused on Iceland´s renewable

energy transition and the question if Iceland could serve as a model for the world´s ongoing

clean economy transition.

The article argues that though the exact nature of Iceland´s clean energy transition is quite

unique, many of the broader variables share close similarity with other countries, especially

developing economies, around the world. Mid-century Iceland was a newly independent nation,

largely dependent on fossil fuel imports, lack of training or knowledge of its own resources,

dealing with centuries of poverty and a widespread lack of basic infrastructure. These key

similarities can allow us to pull some real lessons from the Icelandic transition.

For the full text on Halla´s piece in the UN Chronicle, please visit:

http://unchronicle.un.org/issue/sustainable-energy

ICELAND SCHOOL OF ENERGY´S ANNUAL CHRISTMAS PARTY

For another year, the Director of ISE, Halla Hrund Logadóttir hosted the annual Iceland School

of Energy Christmas Party on December 9th. The ISE classes, professors, lecturers,

administrators, and industry representatives gathered for a festive, traditional Icelandic

Christmas feast that included moss smoked lamb hangikjöt, salted cured ham, ornately

decorated laufabrauð (leaf bread), reindeer pâté, pickled red cabbage, peas and topped with

copious quantities of béchamel sósa. After gorging themselves in preparation for the winter,

party goers enjoyed jólagrautur, the traditional Christmas rice pudding. This meal was of course

supplemented with plentiful opportunities for imbibement.

Iceland School of Energy Fall/Winter Newsletter Menntavegi 1, 101 Reykjavík

+354 599 6200 15.01.2016

ISE SPRING 2016 INTERNSHIP PROGRAM

A total of 16 students were selected from the Class of 2017 to participate in ISE´s Spring 2016

Internship Program. Students this semester are were placed with six companies working on 17

different projects of real world magnitude.

These projects range from a market analysis to identify locations of Icelandic partner´s

geothermal projects internationally for the Icelandic Geothermal Cluster, a legal analysis for

Orkustófnun, the National Energy Agency (regulator), a detailed financial analysis of Green

Energy Group´s modular geothermal power plants, all the way to a research project on costing

of a carbon-capture and sequestration project (CCS) at a geothermal power plant (CarbFix at

Hellisheiðarvirkjun).

These projects provide our student´s with the opportunities to both learn the tools of real

businesses and institutions while also providing the opportunities to build a personal network.

Both of these things are vital to the post-graduation success of the student.

For more information on some of our internship projects, visit: http://en.ru.is/ise/internships/

Iceland School of Energy Fall/Winter Newsletter Menntavegi 1, 101 Reykjavík

+354 599 6200 15.01.2016

ISE CLASS OF 2016 THESIS DEFENSE HIGHLIGHTS

Name: Ximena Guardia Muguruza

Age: 26

Hometown: Lima, Peru

Which degree (engineering or science)?: Engineering

What was the best part about writing your thesis?

If I have to keep one moment of my thesis defense I

would choose the final part, when my advisor stop

everybody from leaving to say some words about my

work and me. I think there is nothing more heartwarming than the fact that people with much

more experience than you appreciate your effort and recognize your professionalism.

What was the most challenging part?

Waiting for the degree, those 15 minutes after the round of questions of my advisors and the

examiner felt like 30.

What are your plans now?

I start working this Monday in an environmental consultant in Peru. I‘ll make environmental

impact assessments for projects of hydropower plants, wind farms and solar farms.

Unfortunately, geothermal projects are not in the Peruvian portfolio yet but I‘ll put all my effort

for making them happen in the future. I think it is necessary some assistance to governmental

institutions and this will be one of my tasks for sure.

As for my personal life, I think I need some time to get used to living in a huge city like Lima

again, especially after the peace and safety that I had in Reykjavík, but the love of my family,

friends and the amazing food are making this less difficult.

Name: Tufwane Mwagomba

Age: 35

Hometown: Blantyre, Malawi

Which degree (engineering or science)? Engineering

What was the best part about writing your thesis?

Presenting a study that gives an understanding of

developing geothermal in Malawi despite having limited

geothermal resource data from studies conducted so far

was the best part about defending my thesis. The study

is opening new discussion lines about developing

geothermal in Malawi.

What was the most challenging part?

Coming up with working codes that provide better estimates of anticipated generation capacity

was a challenge. The codes were core to power plant costing estimate that eventually impacted

the economic analysis. Accessing reliable cost of power plant equipment was also a challenge.

What are your plans now?

Malawi will be doing its prefeasibility study on our geothermal resources very soon. I am

privileged to be strategically positioned to be in the early stages of geothermal energy

development and will assist from the energy regulatory perspective in the study.

Name: Magnus de Witt

Age: 27

Hometown: Oberhausen, Germany

Which degree (engineering or science)?:

Engineering

What was the best part about writing your

thesis?

One of the best parts of my thesis was actually

the freedom we got in ISE with choosing a topic. It made it possible to focus on my individual

area of interest and then go in the direction which was attracting me the most. My thesis was

about analyizing the life cycles of a geothermal power plant using the design structure matrix. I

Iceland School of Energy Fall/Winter Newsletter Menntavegi 1, 101 Reykjavík

+354 599 6200 15.01.2016

did my thesis in connection with both industry and government agencies here in Iceland. This

opened room for some very interesting discussions and opportunities during my defense...

What was the most challenging part?

One of the more difficult parts of my thesis was how much real consultation was required and

how it can be a little intimidating to initiate first contact with industry and government.

Thankfully, with some support from my supervisors (real Icelanders!) this was just a small

obstacle in the larger scheme of things. After the first initation further contact and expert

interviews which were needed for the research were no problem at all.

What are your plans now?

In the mid-term, I am planning on participating in the winter school, "Exploring Siberia" in Irkusk,

Russia. My aim is to increase my knowledge of the fragile, sub-arctic boreal ecosystem in the

surrounding areas and the challenges that environment is facing. My long-term plan is to

continue in academia and potentially a PhD in the field of systems engineering or systems

dynamics.

Name: Michael Doheny

Age: 25

Hometown: Amherst, New Hampshire, USA

Which degree (engineering or science)? Science

What was the best part about writing your thesis?

The defense was great in that I finally had the opportunity

to share that moment with friends and colleagues. The

culmination of the past six months of thesis work is

essentially all condensed into your thesis defense, so you

feel an incredible sense of relief and achievement once

completed.

What was the most challenging part?

Maintaining motivation throughout an arduous writing process. I‘ve come to realize that I work

better in shorter and more intense spurts in this regard; rather than going to the university seven

days per week, I may have just gone 3-4 days, spending more time each trip.

What are your plans now?

I will soon head back to the US to work in the solar or wind industry. I would really love to work

within the power generation segment for a utility or commercial scale solar or wind developer.

For more student profiles, check out our Facebook and Twitter pages!

THANKS AGAIN FOR A GREAT 2015 AND WE´LL BE BACK NEXT YEAR!

Winter is not so bad, right?