Iceland review - 2013, Page 80

78 ICELAND REVIEW
earlier this year, the newspaper
Fréttablaðið broke the story
that the Hellisheiði geother-
mal power station east of
Reykjavík is not working at full capacity.
Instead of 303 MW, it’s only producing 276
MW. Scientists have discovered that the geo-
thermal reserve in the vicinity of the plant
is actually smaller than originally estimated
and is mostly found within a narrow area.
Without added intervention, production is
likely to decrease even further.
The plant at Hellisheiði has been besieged
by technical and environmental complica-
tions. Located on the Ring Road roughly 30
km (19 miles) east of Reykjavík, Hellisheiði
Power Plant has been built up over the
last seven years and is now the plant with
the highest capacity in terms of electricity
produced. It also provides Reykjavík with
hot water. Critics have pointed out that one
reason for the plant’s problems is that the
power station had been built up too quick-
ly, due to government pressure for more
energy for Century Aluminum’s smelter at
Grundartangi in West Iceland, as well as for
other energy users.
But Iceland’s energy is renewable—isn’t it?
Geothermal energy and hydropower are
generally categorized as renewable sources of
energy, because the energy they tap is not a
limited resource. However, an energy source
only remains renewable if utilized sustainably.
gEothErmAl For hEAting
Around 85 percent of Iceland’s primary
energy supply comes from geothermal ener-
gy and hydropower. Of this, geothermal con-
stitutes about 66 percent, mainly in the form
of space heating, while 30 percent of the
country’s electricity production is provided
by geothermal sources.
Geothermal areas are divided into low-
temperature and high-temperature types.
When low-temperature areas are used for
district heating purposes, the water that is
utilized is extracted from wells using pumps.
Because this water has low levels of impuri-
ties, it can be tapped directly from the wells
and connected via pipes to buildings and
greenhouses.
High-temperature geothermal water can-
not be used directly for house heating due
to the relatively high content of minerals
and gases it contains, thus cold water must
first be heated in heat exchangers. However,
Einar Gunnlaugsson, head of resources at
Reykjavík Energy (Orkuveita Reykjavíkur),
says this doesn’t affect the efficiency or sus-
tainability of the geothermal system. “On
the contrary, it heightens utilization of high-
temperature areas as only part of the energy
is used for electricity production.”
When asked if there have been any cases
in which hot water from the ground has
not been used sustainably for district heat-
How renewable is Iceland’s renewable energy?
Power sTruggle
By LoWANA veAL
PHOTOS By PáLL STeFáNSSoN