ENERGY IN ICELAND - Orkustofnun

Helga BarðadóttirThe silica rich geothermal seawater in the BlueLagoon comes from the Svartsengi geothermalpower plant.the Reykjavik area, 27 km away. Atthe end of 1998, the power plantstarted generating electricity, with60 MW installed capacity. An expansionof the plant to 90 MW wascompleted in 2001 and another to120 MW in 2005. The company alsohas a geothermal power plant underconstruction at Hellisheidi in SouthIceland. The installed capacity willbe 80 MW in 2006, but is expected tobe gradually expanded to 190 MW in2008.A 690 MW hydropower plant is underconstruction in Karahnjukar, NortheastIceland. The plant will start operationsin 2007.At Husavik, in Northeast Iceland, alow-temperature geothermal fieldbegan generating electricity in 2000,when one of the first Kalina binaryfluid2 MW generators in the worldwas put into service. This generator utilizes hot water which is cooled from 120°C to80°C. The electricity generated is sufficient to satisfy more than half the electricitydemand of the town. The 80°C water from the power plant is subsequently used fordistrict heating. The total installed capacity of hydro and geothermal power plantsis shown in Figure 12.IndustryThe seaweed product manufacturer Thorverk, at Reykholar in West Iceland, uses geothermalheat directly for its production. The plant produces 2,000–4,000 tons of rockweedand kelp meal annually, using 28 l/s of 107°C hot water for its production.Search forgeothermal areasThe state subsidizes space heating in areas wheregeothermal resources have not been identified.Since 1998 the Ministry of Industry has been runninga program to encourage geothermal exploration for domestic heating in cold areas.Geothermal exploration can be expensive and somewhat risky, but a new explorationtechnique, drilling 50–100 m deep thermal gradient exploration wells, has proven successful.As a result of this program, more than 10 local heating utilities were planned,and many were already commissioned by 2006. Each heating utility serves from 4 to1,000 people, totaling over 3,000 people.22