Tímarit Verkfræðingafélags Íslands - 01.02.1984, Blaðsíða 17

1930. Detailed statistics of the installed
capacities for the various types of
utilization in the low and the high
temperature fields in 1980 are reported
in (5) and (6) respectively.
80 r PERCENTAGE OF ICELANDIC POPULATION
WITH GEOTHERMAL HEATING
1960 1965 1970 1975 1980
Figure 2. Growlh of geothermal space
heating in Iceland during 1960—1980.
Figure 2 shows the growth of geother-
mal heating during the period 1960—
1980 (3). Already at the beginning of the
oil crisis in the early 1970’s over 40% of
the population heated their homes with
geothermal water. With the rapid in-
crease in oil prices, however, projects
that had previously been marginal all of
a sudden became economically viable.
By 1985 about 80% of houses in the
country are expected to be heated by
geothermal energy and the remaining
20% mostly by electricity generated in
hydropower stations. Thus burning of
imported oil to heat houses will be
eliminated.
There are probably more types of
utilization of geothermal energy in
lceland than in any other country in the
world. Apart from space heating
geothermal water and steam is used for
various purposes sucli as fish hatching,
fish drying, soil warming, wool
washing, hay drying, extraction of salt
from a geothermal brine, and the mak-
ing of candy and ice cream. Industrial
utilization on larger scale includes a fac-
tory for drying and cleaning of
diatomaceous slurry and a factory for
drying seaweed for alginate production.
Due to the abundant hydropower
resources in Iceland, electricity has so
far been generated by geothermal
energy only on a limited scale. Electrici-
ty was first generated with geothermal
steam in Iceland on an experimental
basis near Hveragerdi in 1944, but it was
not until in 1969 that a geothermal
power plant (3 MWe) was commis-
sioned in the Námafjall steamfield for
continuous operation (6). The first of
two 30 MWe units in the Krafla geother-
mal field was commissioned on partial
load in 1977, but the full development
of the field has been delayed. In 1976 a
plant started operating in the Svartsengi
high temperature field where a 240°C
brine (% seawater) is used for heating
fresh water by heat exchangers (7) for
the local district heating system as well
as for flashing off the high pressure
steam for co-generation of electricity.
The installed capacity of the plant is 125
MWt and 8 MWe; the last and final
stage of the plant was commissioned in
1982. In view of the abundant hydro-
power potential of the country, large
scale production of electicity from
geothermal resources is not likely in
Iceland in the near future, but co-
generation of electricity in plants
established for direct industrial applica-
tion seems favorable. Along with a
natural growth of the space heating
market the growth of geothermal
utilization in Iceland in the next decade
is likely to be mainly in the industrial
sector.
Apart from foreign experts coming to
advise on how to operate new equip-
ment such as the first large drill rig in
the country, foreign consultants have
only been involved in restricted aspects
of two of the numerous geothermal pro-
jects in the country. The first instance
was in the late 1930’s when a Danish
consulting engineering firm participated
in the design of a 15 km long main
geothermal pipeline from the Reykir
geothermal area to Reykjavík (8). The
initial design work was done by Icelan-
dic staff engineers of the Reykjavík
Municipal Heating Service, but because
of how large the task was and a shortage
of qualified engineers in the country the
Danish engineers were hired to give a
hand. In the mid 1970’s consulting
engineers from the U.S.A. participated
in the design of the power house and
cooling towers of the Krafla geothermal
power project on a joint venture basis
with Icelandic engineers, whereas other
parts of the project were designed by
Icelandic engineers (9).
Since 1951, Icelandic geothermal ex-
perts have worked as consultants in 32
foreign countries, mainly on projects
under the auspices of the United Na-
tions. Most of these have been short
ntissions, but since 1967 several lcelan-
dic scientists and engineers have been
engaged for a year or longer at a time on
projects in the developing countries.
The first major geothermal design work
by an Icelandic engineering firm abroad
was the planning and design of the
Olkaria geothermal power project (45
MWe) in Kenya jointly undertaken with
a firm from the U. K. The first 15 MW
unit of this first geothermal power sta-
tion in Africa was commissioned in 1981
and the second 15 MW unit in 1982.
This project is partly funded by the
World Bank.
In 1979 an international training pro-
gramme in geothermal research and
technology was initiated at the Na-
tional Energy Authority of Iceland
under the auspices of the Government
of Iceland and the United Nations
University. Twenty eight participants
from leading energy agencies in Africa,
Asia and Central America have received
6—8 months specialized training and
thirteen scientists and engineers have
come for shorter study tours. Specialized
training is offered in geological explora-
tion, borehole geology, geophysical ex-
ploration, borehole geophysics,
chemistry of thermal fluids, reservoir
engineering, geothermal utilization and
drilling technology (10). The training is
open to scientists and engineers in
developing countries who are employed
for geothermal work by government
organizations and who have a minimum
of one year’s practical experience in
geothermal work in their home country
after university graduation.
DISCUSSION
Consultants and contractors working
on overseas projects, particularly in
developing countries, sometimes make
unnecessary misjudgements with signifi-
cant financial consequences. Such
mistakes may either be due to their
underestimation of the local conditions
or due to unnecessary overdimensioning
of material and equipment in their at-
tempt to play it safe. In the Icelandic ex-
perience the potential of such mis-
judgements can be reduced considerably
by ensuring that full consideration is
taken of the local experience by col-
laboration with local engineers.
The basis for beneficial collabora-
tion, however, is that the local counter-
part is technically competent and able to
communicate. A competent counterpart
provides the ideal basis for a successfu!
technology transfer. The high standard
of technical education of Icelandic
engineers and technicians has provided
the necessary basis for technical in-
dependence. The fact that the majority
of the seniour scientists and engineers in
TÍMARIT VFÍ 1984 — 9