Three power plants
The power of nature owns and operates three plants that we care deeply about. They are the geothermal plants at Hellisheiði and Nesjavellir, and the hydroelectric plant in Andakíl, Borgarfjörður.
Hellisheiðarvirkjun
Hellisheiði Power Plant is located south of Hengill and produces hot water and electricity. The plant was commissioned in 2006 and has a capacity of 200 MW in thermal power and 303 MW in electricity. In terms of liters, this is about 950 liters per second. All geothermal water beyond this is typically channeled into a drainage system that leads to the groundwater system in the geothermal reservoir. An air purification facility is located near the power plant, which utilizes the Carbfix method to purify about 75% of hydrogen sulfide and about 30% of carbon dioxide dissolved in geothermal water and directed into the drainage system.
Nesjavellir Power Plant
The Nesjavallavirkjun power plant, located north of Hengill, produces hot water and electricity. It can generate up to 300 MW of thermal energy, which is about 1,640 liters per second of hot water, and up to 120 MW of electricity. A portion of the excess geothermal water from the plant goes into drainage wells, and there is ongoing work to expand the drainage system. Deep injection of geothermal water is being tested to prepare for experimental injection of carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide.
Andakílsá Power Plant
The Andakílsár Power Plant in Borgarfjörður began operations in 1947. The plant replaced gasoline-powered power stations that had been used both in Akranes and Borgarnes as well as in the surrounding rural areas, thus providing a significant environmental benefit. The total production capacity of the plant is 8 MW. In its operations, significant consideration is given to the water level in Skorradalsvatn and the flow in Andakílsá, with the intention of best preserving Skorradalsvatn as a natural area and Andakílsá as a fishing river.
Our hurricane
Our geothermal power plants at Nesjavellir and Hellisheiði were built to meet the increasing demand for hot water in the community. In our power plant areas, there are boreholes that are about 1000-3300 meters deep, and from them, a water-steam mixture flows, which is guided through collection pipes to a separator where the water is separated from the steam. The water goes to a heating plant and is used to heat groundwater for district heating. We produce about 50% of all hot water in the capital region, which is used for heating homes and in swimming pools. Think of us next time you go swimming or take a shower.
In order to make the best use of our resources, the steam is also directed to steam turbines where electricity production takes place. Our electricity is produced sustainably, and its carbon footprint is among the lowest in the world.
In our hydropower plant at Andakílsá, hydropower is utilized to produce electricity.
We are leading in environmentally friendly energy transitions in Iceland and innovation in the utilization of resource flows.
We have achieved ambitious climate goals and aim to do even better, wanting to use resources responsibly and carefully to improve quality of life in the present and future, for the benefit of us all.
We are leaders in land restoration and in all activities we take care of the vegetation cover and utilize it to restore plant habitats. We have developed and used unconventional methods in land restoration; for example, we use moss mixed with buttermilk to restore moss carpets.
We are pioneers in developing solutions to reduce geothermal gas emissions and minimize our carbon footprint.
We have also developed and built a unique machine workshop where repairs on the plant's equipment are carried out with world-class quality.