A sizeable minority within the cabinet of the Reykjavik city council intends to request that the details of Reykjavik Energy’s dealings with Canada’s Magma Energy over the sale of its stake in HS Orka be made public.
The board of Reykjavik Energy yesterday voted to accept Magma’s offer to buy 16.58 percent of HS Orka. The [...]
A sizeable minority within the cabinet of the Reykjavik city council intends to request that the details of Reykjavik Energy’s dealings with Canada’s Magma Energy over the sale of its stake in HS Orka be made public.
The board of Reykjavik Energy yesterday voted to accept Magma’s offer to buy 16.58 percent of HS Orka. The company will also purchase a 15 percent share from the Town of Hafnarfjordur.
The sale of Icelandic energy resources to foreigners has never happened before and has caused considerable controversy; especially as Reykjavik Energy is a publicly owned company. Some argue that foreign investment will bring new opportunities, experience and credibility to the Iceland’s huge renewables market, while others feel that energy independence is paramount and that public assets should not be sold to private firms – especially as Iceland is already a world leader and expert nation in renewable energy production.
Social Democrat representative in Reykjavik council, Dagur B. Eggertsson told mbl.is that the purchase contract has been carefully designed so that its details will only be available to politicians, public officials and councillors. He says that as Reykjavik Energy is a publicly-owned company, the public should be able to assess the contract personally.