Interview with Baldvin Thorsteinsson, CEO of Iceland Drilling
Baldvin Thorsteinsson, CEO of Iceland Drilling (source: ruv.is)
Francisco Rojas
3 Sep 2014
ThinkGeoEnergy interviews Baldvin Thorsteinsson, the CEO of Iceland Drilling, a high tech geothermal drilling service provider.
As part of our ongoing interview series, we now had the chance to interview Baldvin Thorsteinsson, the CEO of geothermal drilling company Iceland Drilling.
Iceland Drilling is a high tech geothermal drilling service provider and a leading high technical company in the field of high temperature geothermal drilling with decades of experience and renown in the sector. According to the company’s website, they possesses a fleet of new hydraulic rigs and modern drilling equipment that can be transferred swiftly from one part of the world to another.
Iceland Drilling operates internationally, mostly in Iceland, New Zealand, Montserrat, Dominica and the Philippines, with offices all over the world and with the record of drilling several hundreds of geothermal wells; more than 250 since 1970 and more than 180 in the last decade.
The company has well-grounded expertise in international drilling, providing also integrated drilling services for all onshore geothermal projects, as well as drilling services in other sectors. They are an IGA and IADC member and an ISO certified firm.
Where is your company based and where are you right now?
We have offices in Iceland, NZ, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Ethiopia. Our company is currently operating rigs in Iceland and Philippines and one project is about to start in Malaysia.
How international is your business and how does this affect your work?
We are a company that has operations in three continents and soon to be 4 continents. We participate in tenders all over the world so it is very globalized firm. This requires good management and a lot of planning in being able to successfully deliver high quality services to our clients. And a lot of travelling as well!
How much do you travel?
Personally I have to travel around 4-5 months a year. Many of the senior management and key personnel do as well.
What technology do you carry on a trip?
Laptop and Smartphone are essential.
What are two or three key things that differentiate your company in the market?
The number one differentiator is our experience. There are only a few, if any drilling companies that over the past 60 years have drilled more geothermal wells than Iceland Drilling. Number two would be our modern fleet of hydraulic, fast moving rigs that have a small footprint. They are well suited for geothermal projects that often are located in rough remote areas. The third differentiator is that we are also willing to take equity positions in geothermal projects if conditions are favourable and we believe in the project.
Those three things are in my mind the main elements that set us apart as a company.
What are the main obstacles for your business today?
In general for participants in the geothermal industry, it is simply the slow pace of development. Geothermal is far behind when it comes to investment vs. other renewable energy sectors such as wind and solar. We have seen some pickup in development in recent years; Africa is moving quite rapidly with Kenya leading the way, South East Asia is ready for a boost although people have been waiting on Indonesia for several years to live up to it’s potential and South America will be very interesting in a few years time. My feeling is that things are moving in the right direction although more investment into the industry is needed.
What are the key markets for the geothermal industry right now and why?
Right now it is Africa and Asia. South America will follow as well in a few years. It will also be interesting to see what happens in Japan. Established markets such as New Zealand and Iceland will remain muted for the next few years simply due to lack of demand for energy. I am optimistic that those markets will rebound, although the current outlook for the next 24 to 36 months is not the best. District heating in Europe hasn’t taken off yet; regulatory changes and increase in grant funding to new projects might change that.
Where do you see the industry in 20 years from now?
The industry will have grown quite substantially. I don’t think it will ever be as big as the large renewable sectors such as wind and solar but an increase in geothermal’s share of the total investment in renewable energy is something that we will see happen over the next 20 years.
If you had unlimited funding to promote geothermal, what would you do?
Provide grant funding for new projects so less equity would be needed until they can be made bankable. Then, I would invest in educating and promoting geothermal at all levels of society in countries that have geothermal potential as well as the financing industry.
What would be your key advice for people wanting to enter the geothermal industry?
I would start getting some education or job training and build on that. The demand for well-educated and well-trained people is definitely there.
ThinkGeoEnergy would like to thank Mr. Thorsteinsson for the interview.
To learn more from Iceland Drilling, please visit the company’s website
