Sustainability In The Air From geothermal to green jet fuel: How Iceland could become aviation’s SAF bridge
In this episode, we speak with Nanna Baldvinsdottir, co-founder of IðunnH2, about how Iceland’s unique energy system could turn the country into a green fuel bridge between Europe and North America.
A veteran of Iceland’s power sector, Nanna has spent two decades working in renewables before turning to hydrogen and e-fuels development.
Nanna shares how IðunnH2 is developing a 300 MW, ~70,000 tonne-per-year e-SAF project near Keflavík International Airport, designed first to decarbonise Icelandic aviation and only then supply the wider world via book-and-claim. She explains why social licence for new wind power, local energy security, and predictable permitting make Iceland a testbed for scaling e-fuels where other regions are still stuck on the drawing board.
Nanna discusses:
- Why SAF, not hydrogen export, came out on top in IðunnH2’s feasibility work – and how switching mid-study unlocked a path to true commercial scale rather than niche pilot projects.
- The Helguvík project: locating a commercial-scale e-kerosene facility a stone’s throw from Iceland’s main international airport, using 100% renewable power contracted via long-term PPAs.
- Book-and-claim as a strategic tool: using it to serve committed early partners like Luxaviation and other motivated buyers outside Iceland, while keeping the bulk of production for Icelandic decarbonisation.
- Moving beyond “Jet A price parity”: why chasing price parity with fossil jet fuel misses the point since jet fuel is heavily subsidised and untaxed, and how 15-year price stability can be more valuable to airlines than simply being the cheapest.
- Her role as a “system builder”: why e-fuel plants are far more complex than traditional power projects, and what it takes to keep partners aligned on timelines, risk, margins, and ambition.
- The wider Icelandic hydrogen roadmap: how aviation, maritime, and road transport could all draw on the same hydrogen and e-fuels backbone as the market matures.
Learn more about the innovators who are navigating the industry’s challenges to make sustainable aviation a reality, in our new book “Sustainability in the Air: Volume 2.” Click here to learn more.
Feel free to reach out via email to podcast@simpliflying.com. For more content on sustainable aviation, visit our website green.simpliflying.com and join the movement. It’s about time.
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