Case Name :      Aiming Toward a Hydrogen Economy: Icelandic New Energy Ltd. (Islensk Nyorka)

Authors :           Pratima Bansal, Ken Mark, Jordan Mitchell

Source :             Ivey Publishing

Case ID :            905M01

Discipline :        Strategy

Case Length :    33 pages

Solution Sample availability : YES

Plagiarism : NO (100% Original work)

Icelandic New Energy Co., a research and development consortium based in Reykjavik, Iceland, is considering its future direction. The two-person team has met its first major goal–the installation of the world’s first commercial hydrogen filling station and the coordination of a public transport test project involving the operation of three hydrogen-fuelled city buses. The company was founded with the overall objective of investigating the potential for eventually replacing the use of fossil fuels in Iceland with hydrogen-based fuels and creating the first hydrogen society in the world. Working toward the goal of self-sufficiency from fossil fuels, Icelandic New Energy Co. was set up in 1999 by the consortium Vistorka and three major partners, each contributing a part to the testing–Royal Dutch Shell (the refueling station), Norsk Hydro (the electrolysis technology to make the hydrogen), and DaimlerChrysler (fuel cell vehicles using hydrogen fuel). The shareholder agreement, established with the company’s start in 1999, is set to expire in 2005. With all of the major activities being outsourced and contracted, the team wondered how it could keep the company as a going concern and contribute to Iceland’s transition to a hydrogen economy–a feat that could take more than 15 years.