The Hellisheiði Power Station ( is, Hellisheiðarvirkjun, ) is the eighth-largest
geothermal power station in the world and largest in Iceland.
[
] The facility is located in
Hengill
Hengill (Icelandic language, Icelandic, pronounced ) is a volcano, volcanic mountain range situated in the southwest of Iceland, to the south of Þingvellir. The mountain range covers an area of about 100 km².
The volcano is still active, e ...
, southwest
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
, from the
Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station
The Nesjavellir Geothermal Power Station ( is, Nesjavallavirkjun, ) is the second-largest geothermal power station in Iceland. The facility is located above sea level in the southwestern part of the country, near Þingvellir National Park and th ...
. The plant has a capacity of of electricity and th of hot water for
Reykjavik's
district heating
District heating (also known as heat networks or teleheating) is a system for distributing heat generated in a centralized location through a system of insulated pipes for residential and commercial heating requirements such as space heating a ...
. The power station is owned and operated by
ON Power, a subsidiary of
Reykjavík Energy.
History
Electricity production with two
turbines
A turbine ( or ) (from the Greek , ''tyrbē'', or Latin ''turbo'', meaning vortex) is a rotary mechanical device that extracts energy from a fluid flow and converts it into useful Work (physics), work. The work produced by a turbine can be used ...
commenced in 2006. In 2007, an additional low pressure
steam turbine
A steam turbine is a machine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work on a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Charles Parsons in 1884. Fabrication of a modern steam turbin ...
of was added. In 2008, two turbines were added with steam from Skarðsmýrarfjall Mountain. The hot water plant was introduced in 2010 and the last two high pressure 45 MW turbines were added in 2011.
In order to reduce
hydrogen sulphide
Hydrogen sulfide is a chemical compound with the formula . It is a colorless chalcogen-hydride gas, and is poisonous, corrosive, and flammable, with trace amounts in ambient atmosphere having a characteristic foul odor of rotten eggs. The unde ...
pollution in the capital area a system was added to the plant in 2014 which reinjects non-condensable gases into the ground.
Renewed drilling
In 2016 the operator, ON, announced a program of new drilling to deal with falling steam levels which had first become apparent in 2013. The program was expected in 2017 to cost 19 billion Icelandic crowns to maintain a steady electric output.
Features
The power plant offers educational tours and presentations about
sustainable energy
Energy is sustainable if it "meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs". Most definitions of sustainable energy include considerations of environmental aspects such as greenh ...
as part of its Geothermal Energy Exhibition.
A pilot
direct air capture
Direct air capture (DAC) is a process of capturing carbon dioxide () directly from the ambient air (as opposed to capturing from point sources, such as a cement factory or biomass power plant) and generating a concentrated stream of for seques ...
facility operated by
Climeworks
Climeworks AG is a Switzerland, Swiss company specializing in carbon dioxide air Carbon capture and storage, capture technology. The company filters directly from the ambient air through an adsorption-desorption process. Climeworks refers to the ...
is co-located at this site. It was funded by the
European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
's
Horizon 2020
The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development, also called Framework Programmes or abbreviated FP1 to FP9, are funding programmes created by the European Union/European Commission to support and foster research in the Europea ...
program, and captures 50 metric tons of carbon dioxide each year. The carbon dioxide is captured, injected into the ground, and mineralized.
See also
*
Geothermal power in Iceland
Geothermal power in Iceland refers to the use of geothermal energy in Iceland for electricity generation.
Iceland’s uniquely active geology has led to natural conditions especially suitable for harnessing geothermal energy. Icelanders have long ...
*
List of largest power stations in the world
This article lists the largest power stations in the world, the ten overall and the five of each type, in terms of current installed electrical capacity. Non-renewable power stations are those that run on coal, fuel oils, nuclear fuel, natural ...
*
List of power stations in Iceland
The following page lists all power stations in Iceland. Nearly all of Iceland's electricity (>99%) is generated from renewables (mainly hydroelectric dams and geothermal). The islands of Grimsey and Flatey rely on diesel as they are not con ...
*
Renewable energy in Iceland
Iceland is a world leader in renewable energy. 100% of Iceland's electricity grid is produced from renewable resources. In terms of total energy supply, 85% of the total primary energy supply in Iceland is derived from domestically produced renew ...
*
CarbFix
References
External links
*
Hellisheiði Power Plant 2006-10-21 - Picture gallery from islandsmyndir.is* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140415203703/http://islandsmyndir.is/html_skjol/annad/Virkjanir/Hellisheidarvirkjun-2009-10-04/index.html Hellisheiði Power Plant 2009-10-04 - Picture gallery from islandsmyndir.is]
Hellisheiði Power Plant, Inside 2012-04-27 - Picture gallery from islandsmyndir.is
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Geothermal power stations in Iceland