Employees

Emma Baz graduated with a M.Sc. degree in Renewable Energy with focus on Geothermal energy from the School of Renewable Energy Sciences (RES), partnered with the University of Iceland and University of Akureyri. She holds M.Sc. degree in Telecommunications & New Technologies and B. Sc. degree in Computer Sciences Engineering from UFV, Madrid, Spain. Before joining RG, Emma held a consultant position in SAP Manufacturing Integration and Intelligence at SAP Iberia. 

Gestur Gislason holds a degree in geology/geochemistry and has 35 years experience in the field of geothermal energy, of which 7 years were spent working on the East African Rift, including extensive work in Kenya. He has been active in exploration, field development and field management. He specializes in well flow testing, fluid chemistry, well operation (discharge and recharge) and environmental impact assessment and environmental monitoring. Gestur has been project manager and environmental expert in several projects which have been developed or are in development stage.

Guðmundur Thoroddsson, Chief Executive Officer Reykjavik Geothermal, holds MS degree in Engineering and MBA. He has 30+ years of experience in energy & utilities and played a leadership role in the recent expansion of the Icelandic geothermal industry. Guðmundur previously held positions such as CEO of Orkuveita Reykjavíkur, Chairman of Iceland Drilling, and Board Member of Enex and Enex China. During his carrier as CEO he strongly supported new areas in geothermal development, such as very deep drilling, new drilling technologies and RD support to universities and research institutions. Gudmundur is among handful of CEOs in the world who succeeded in commissioning annually 50-100 MW of new geothermal power. This unique success rate can largely be attributed to his thorough understanding of the geothermal value chain, realized earlier by leading the right expert pool around Icelandic projects and now in Reykjavik Geothermal.

Gunnar Orn Gunnarsson holds a MS degree in Engineering. He has been in a leadership position in several industrial companies in Iceland and been a board member in many small and middle size companies. Gunnar represented the Government on the negotiating team in negotiations with Alcoa to secure its 340 tpa aluminium smelter which is now in full operation. Later he was a CEO of a Venture Capital Fund. For the last seven years Gunnar has been working in the power sector on business development specializing himself in contracting and financial matters.

Hjalmar Eysteinsson holds a Phd degree in geophysics from Brown University, USA. He has been working in geothermal research for over 25 years as well as teaching in the UNU geothermal training program in Iceland. His main research activities are in resistivity surveying and interpretation of geothermal fields as well as designing software for the interpretation of resistivity methods. He has organized and managed resistivity surveys both in Iceland and abroad, mainly in eastern Africa. He has also been working on gravity data, especially microgravity for geothermal reservoir monitoring. He has been an active member of the Icelandic team, working on the Icelandic claim on the outer limits of the continental shelf beyond the 200 miles economical zone.

Jon Orn Jonsson holds a M.Sc. degree in Sustainable Energy and Business from Reykjavik Energy Graduate School of Sustainable Systems, a Master in Project Management from the University of Iceland and a B.Sc. in Hotel Management from the University of Stavanger, Norway. Before joining RG, Jon Orn held an advisory position within retail banking at Islandsbanki. Prior to that he was the Assistant Hotel Director at Icelandair Hotel Hamar. Jon Orn has over 10 years of experience from the HORECA industry in the Nordic countries working as F&B manager, Restaurant Manager and Quality Manager and has as such managed a wide range of projects, events and other formal arrangements. Jon Orn is member of the Project Management Association of Iceland and the Iceland Touring Association.

Dr. Loftur Reimar Gissurarson has worked in quality management since 1990. He has implemented a number of audited and accredited managment standards in companies, such as ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, ISO 27001, ISO 22000, ISO 15489, HACCP, CSR, Green Globe/Earth Check, BREEAM, COSO and Enterprise Risk Management COSO. Before joining Reykjavik Geothermal, he worked as Chief Quality Officer at Orkuveita Reykjavikur for 10 years where he managed with others the infrastructure of the company and re-engineering of processes. Loftur Reimar studied in Scotland where he obtained his Ph.D. in experimental psychology from the University of Edinburg.

Margret Thorarinsdóttir is a certified accountant with credentials from Reykjavik University Iceland. She has a Diploma in Tourism from the Icelandic School of Travel and Tourism and a degree as a waiter from the Hotel & Restaurant School of Iceland. Margrét has worked as an Accountant for 11 years and 5 years as cashier at the insurance company VÍS. She has managed and operated accommodation and food services for two of the largest Salmon rivers in Iceland for 4 years. In addition she worked at the reception desk of Hellisheidi power plant, as a waiter at Radison SAS Hotel Iceland and as a flight attendant for Icelandair (Boeing 757 and 767) during two summers. She is also a mother of four happy children that keep her very busy when she's not at work.

Olof S. Palsdottir is RG´s Finance Controller. She is responsible for the finance team, financial statements and budgets. She assists the CEO and Project Managers on strategic and tactical matters relating budget management, cost benefit analysis, forecasting needs and new funding, Mrs. Palsdottir has been in the energy sector for the last 25 years. Before joining RG, she worked for Reykjavik Energy, as Director of Finance 2007-2011, and as CFO in 1997-2006 and was responsible for the operations of the Departments of Economics, Treasury, Accounting and Procurement. She was member of Reykjavik City’s Risk Committee until 2002, and since then a member of the Reykjavik Energy Risk Committee. Before that she was Head of Economics and responsible for provision of information for the Board and owners, supervision of budgets for all divisions, long-term planning, cost monitoring, tariffs, various analyses and the company’s annual reports. Prior to that Mrs. Palsdottir was office manager for 7 years for Mannvit, engineering consulting firm, supervising daily operations and finance. She is an economist (cand.oecon) from the University of Iceland.

Snorri Gudbrandsson holds a Ph.D. in Geochemistry, a B.Sc. in geology and  a diploma in marketing. He has been involved in geothermal exploration and research since 2006. First as a borehole geologist at Iceland Geosurvey and later as researcher in the CarbFix and SulFix projects that aim to reduce gas emissions from Geothermal power plants.  

Thorleifur Finnsson holds a B.Sc. degree in Electrical Engineering and has 25 years experience in the electricity power industry. Thorleifur has long experience in developing and negotiating Project Agreements and Power Purchasing Agreements, as well as project managing pre-feasibility and feasibility studies for power projects. He has worked on various teams in Iceland to implement projects as diverse as fiberoptic backbone network in Reykjavik area and deregulation of the Icelandic electrical market. The last years Thorleifur has been deeply involved in establishing power projects in Asia and Africa.

Tomas Gudmarsson holds a M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering. He has been involved in the geothermal for over 24 years, and his experience in geothermal is both in the direct use of geothermal hot water as well as Power production with geothermal steam. For over 12 years, he was the Manager of operation of Nesjavellir and Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plants in Iceland for Reykjavik Energy, as well as two small hydro plants. The Geothermal plants are both CHP Plants (combined heat and power) rated power 423 MW_e in 11 units. As a member of Reykjavik´s Energy New Power Generation Steering group he has been involved in design and developing these plants from the beginning.

Vilhjalmur Skulason holds a J.D. in Business Law from Bifröst University in Iceland and a diploma in International Business Law from Shanghai University and has over 20 years expertise in business contracting and business development. He has substantial international negotiations expertise; ranging from import/export deals to complex resource access and long time sophisticated power purchase agreement.

Chris McCormick is  a Partner with Ambata Capital Partners, a significant investor in Reykjavik Geothermal.  Chris has been seconded into RG as of Ambata’s investment in Reykjavik Geothermal in 2011.  Chris leads specific development efforts in RG, serves as an MD for the MexxusRG joint venture,  is involved in project finance activities and is a Managing Director/Board Member for RG’s sister company in the Middle East,  RG Thermal Energy Solution (RG TES or RG Safa).  Chris holds a BS  In Materials Science and Engineering from The Johns Hopkins University and an MBA in Finance from NYU’s Stern School of Business.

Magnus Asbjornsson holds an MBA from London Business School, London and Columbia Business School, New York, and a Bachelor degree (First in Class) in International Relations & Diplomacy with a Minor in Economics from Schiller International University. Before joining RG, Magnus was a Senior Associate with Booz & Company (formerly Booz Allen Hamilton) and previously at Marakon Associates, leading firms in the field of management and strategy consulting worldwide. Magnus has twelve years of advisory and general management experience spanning investment, business strategy, planning, organization design, and change management work, working primarily with C-level executives and cabinet level government officials across five continents. Magnus spent four years living in East Africa and speaks five languages.

Mr. Philipp has held senior management positions across the financial services industry for the past 25 years. From 2004 to 2008 Michael served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Europe, Middle East and Africa, the Chairman of Environmental Business Group, and a member of the Executive Board of Credit Suisse (CS). Prior to Credit Suisse, Michael was at Deutsche Bank (DB) where he held many positions including, Chairman and CEO of Deutsche Asset Management, Global Head of Equities and Head of Global Market Sales. Michael also served as a member of the Board of Managing Directors (Vorstand), responsible for Middle East and Africa.Michael has been influential in the expansion of major banking institutions into the Middle East and Africa. While at Credit Suisse, he established the CS office in the Dubai International Financial Center (DIFC) and started CS’s operation in Saudi Arabia, Credit Suisse Saudi Securities. Michael expanded CS’s business into Africa through a joint venture with Standard Bank. In addition during his tenure at Deutsche Bank, DB acquired Ivor Jones, Roy & Co., establishing Deutsche as the leading investment bank in South Africa.

Trent Philipp was a partner of Ambata Capital, LLC, responsible for US and European initiatives and relationships, including overseeing the strategic partnerships with Carl Hahn Partners, Sustainable Development Capital Ltd., and The Coalition for Rainforest Nations. He also served as CEO of Ambata Securities, LLC, a FINRA registered broker dealer focused on clean energy and sustainable development opportunities. Prior to Ambata, Trent was head of sales for the UK and Ireland at Soleil Securities, an independent equity research and brokerage firm.  He was also responsible for initiating investment banking efforts in the Alternative Energy sector. He has been actively involved in conservation and non-profit efforts, including the establishment of the Fisheries Conservation Foundation and working with Peace One Day, a non-profit NGO dedicated to the establishment and observance of the International Day of Peace and Ceasefire. Trent Philipp has a BA in political science from the University of Richmond and an MBA from NYU's Stern School of Business.

Aklilu Hailu is an exploration geophysicist who got his training in applied physics, exploration geophysics and GIS and RS in Ethiopia; and abroad in India, application development using GIS and RS. He has been actively working in many geophysical activities to solve various geological questions in base metal and geothermal explorations in Ethiopia and abroad for the last 17 years using different geophysical techniques. In addition to these he has been involved in producing Bouguer Anomaly and its derivative maps of Ethiopia basically in Ethiopian Rift Valley.

Nebil Muktar graduated from Addis Ababa University Department of Foreign Languages and Literature in 2008. During his stay in Addis Ababa University, he took courses in journalism, public relations and communication. Before being employed in Government Organization, Nebil voluntarily worked to the benefit of the society in collaboration with the District‘s Administration Bureau who requested him to work in the District‘s Roads Authority Bureau were his major responsibility included Planning, Monitoring, Evaluation and Report writing since 2011-2013. He gained training in Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation given by Agricultural Growth Program (AGP) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Adama and Jimma town.

Mr Tadesse Mamo has extensive experience in geological exploration. He has been involved in geological mapping and surface hydrothermal alteration mapping in different geothermal prospects. He has been involved in the deep exploration drilling geological logging in Aluto-Langano and Tendaho geothermal fields finally preparing the master log and report.  Mr Mamo coordinated in the selection of temperature gradient holes drilling site and also geological logging for Tulu Moye, Aluto and Tendaho. He was acting Geothermal Division head between 1999-2000. He has supervised and trained geologists in geological logging of deep geothermal boreholes and surface hydrothermal alteration mapping in the Aluto-Langano Geothermal Expansion Project. Before joining RG he was involved in geological and geochemical studies with the company in Abaya, Corbetti and Tulu Moye areas. Mr Mamo has more than 30 years of experience in geological works and has intimate knowledge of Geology.

Mr. Wakgari Gunjo is a legal adviser whose educational background is law. He obtained LLB degree from Addis Ababa University and LLM degree from Dundee University, Scotland, UK, in mineral law and Policy. He worked in the Government of Ethiopia for more than thirty years in different capacities. His responsibilities included serving as head of legal departments in the Ministry of Mines and Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise, as head of  Mineral Operations in the Ministry of Mines and as a member of management board in state owned Public Enterprises. He has extensive experience in mineral and petroleum laws as well as negotiations in mineral concessions and international procurement involving multinational companies, and has participated in bi-lateral negotiations with countries as technical expert member of government delegations. Before joining RG, Mr. Gunjo served as a practicing lawyer for two years.