Reykjavík Grapevine - 20.05.2016, Side 12

about the domestic need for more
"green electricity?” Who gets what is
there to get? Foreign companies, re-
quiring hundreds of megawatts for
their activities, wait in line to start
operating in Iceland. A growing popu-
lation and domestic industrial devel-
opment will require at least 600 mw
by 2050. Plans for transitioning from
imported fossil fuels to fuels produced
in Iceland—like alcohol, methane,
biodiesel and hydrogen—have been
debated, and large-scale greenhouse
food production is also on the agenda.
All these industries probably need a
few hundred additional megawatts.
This means that Iceland has to retain
at least 1,500-2,000 mw for its own use,
as of today, until 2050.
One of the arguments for a sea cable is
the fact that there are currently some
200-300 stray megawatts available in
the electrical power sector. A few ad-
ditional power plants would then add
what is needed as a minimum for an
underwater cable. But looking at the
future domestic consumption assess-
ments, it is hard to guess where some
500-1,000 mw could be found for the UK.
Drilling deeper
However, new development could
change Icelandic energy capabilities
and maybe facilitate a sea cable in the
far future. The international Iceland
Deep Drilling Project aims to find out
if steam at super-critical conditions
exists at a depth of 4-6 km. Theoreti-
cally, if harnessed, a superhot steam
well would produce five to ten times
the amount of energy of the wells
which currently exist. Two IDDP test
boreholes have failed (except as re-
search). A third borehole is soon to
be drilled. Until then, controllable
"mega-wells" only exist on paper. Two
recent windmills (each producing
about 1 mw) provide interesting data.
Wind parks, producing a few hundred
megawatts, could be operating within
the next decade or two, but will not
radically change the energy scene.
However, if one or more of Iceland’s
metal-processing plants were to close
down, it would free up hundreds of
megawatts.
The feasibility calculations of a sea
cable between Iceland and the UK,
and the research into formal and legal
matters, as well as what positive and
negative aspects interconnection to
the mainland grid would have in Ice-
land, are interesting. However, Iceland
does not have the capability to make
a real difference for electrical energy
consumption in the UK and will not,
for quite many years to come, have
enough available energy to sell abroad.
Besides, if the connection to the conti-
nental grid causes electricity prices to
rise in Iceland, it would have a highly
negative influence on the attitude to-
wards the project.
The Reykjavík Grapevine
Issue 6 — 2016
12

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The presidential race
continues to fly down
the tracks on the roll-
ercoaster of the ab-
surd, as Morgunblaðið co-editor and
presidential hopeful Davíð Oddsson
recently attempted to sell himself to
the general public as the most cost-
effective candidate, by saying that he
would simply refuse the presidential
salary, and thereby we would “get him
for free.” Never mind that he’s already
costing us money anyway, in the form
of one of the highest pensions paid out
to a former employee of the state. Also
never mind that by law, a government
official actually cannot refuse to be
paid. That’s what Davíð’s going with.
For now, anyway—still a long way to
Election Day, on June 25.
They say change is slow to happen in
Iceland, and while this may be true,
this change most times comes in de-
cidedly progressive measures. Over
the past year, the City of Reykjavík
has been experimenting with short-
ening the full-time work week, by
testing out 35 hours per week instead
of 40 at some select city workplaces.
The result? Greater productivity, fewer
sick days, and more general worker
happiness. Not entirely unsurprising,
as similar experiments elsewhere in
the world have yielded similar results.
And with Icelanders working lon-
ger hours than most of their Nordic
counterparts, the whole country may
soon breathe a sigh of relief and kick
up their heels an extra five hours per
week. Let the good times roll!
NEWS IN
BRIEF
Over and over again, news reports
highlight the possibility of an under-
sea cable, connecting Icelandic power
plants to the UK grid. This expen-
sive device would transmit 500-1,000
megawatts, enough to supply a single
large city with electricity. One can look
at that as a huge asset or be realistic
and admit that this amount of power
will not change the energy scene in the
UK. Businesspeople can cleverly adver-
tise a futuristic notion of tapping into
lively volcanoes, or acknowledge the
simple fact that today only about 27%
of the electricity in Iceland is produced
using geothermal resources of volca-
nic origin, as compared to 73% utiliz-
ing hydropower. These hydropower
plants are powered by river water orig-
inating from the large glacial ice caps.
Why not look soberly into the facts?

Limited resources
Currently, Iceland's total electrical en-
ergy production stands at about 17 ter-
rawatts per year. That corresponds to
a total constant power output of about
2,600 mw. One fifth of that energy
goes to domestic and industrial uses.
The rest is consumed by energy-inten-
sive industry—mainly three foreign
aluminum plants, soon to be expand-
ed with a few smaller plants, produc-
ing silicon metal (raw silica) and pure
silica for solar cells.
The current official plan for Icelandic
electrical energy production includes
some new hydropower plants, but
the main emphasis is on geothermal
power, with a total additional out-
put of 1,400 mw estimated from both
sources. Each geothermal power plant
requires many years to be put stepwise
into operation for a sensible, maxi-
mum output from its hot reservoir.
This plan does not imply that all the
possible projects will be realized.
In view of this, how much more pow-
er is there to get from Iceland’s nature
with today's technology, taking envi-
ronmental issues into consideration?
The opinions differ, but a figure for
the total potential power output lands
somewhere around 4,000 mw in the
foreseeable future.
For whom?
Now, other questions arise. What
Harnessing
Volcanoes
In Iceland
Words ARI TRAUSTI
Photo JULIA STAPLES
SHARE:
gpv.is/volc
Ari Trausti Guð-
mundsson has been
active as a lecturer
and non-fiction
writer in the fields of
geology, volcanol-
ogy, astronomy,
environmental sci-
ence and mountain-
eering, with over
40 published book
titles. Educated as
a geophysicist in
Norway and Iceland,
Ari Trausti works as a
freelance consul-
tant in the fields of
geoscience, tourism
and environmental
issues as well as
writing and hosting
numerous radio and
television programs
and documentaries.