Renewable Energy in Iceland - Geothermal Power

Geothermal Power

For centuries, the people of Iceland have used their hot springs for bathing and washing clothes. The first use of geothermal energy for heating did not come until 1907 when a farmer ran a concrete pipe from a hot spring that led steam into his house. In 1930, the first pipeline was constructed in Reykjavík, and was used to heat two schools, 60 homes, and the main hospital. It was a 3 km pipeline that ran from one of the hot springs outside the city. In 1943, the first district heating company was started with the use of geothermal power. An 18 km pipeline ran through the city of Reykjavík and by 1945 it was connected to over 2,850 homes.

Currently geothermal power heats 89% of the houses in Iceland and over 54% of the primary energy used in Iceland comes from geothermal sources. Geothermal power is used for many things in Iceland. 57.4% of the energy is used for space heat, 15.9% is used for electricity, and the remaining amount is used in many miscellaneous areas: swimming pools, fish farms, and greenhouses, for example.

The government of Iceland has played a major role in the advancement of geothermal energy. In the 1940s, the State Electricity Authority was started by the government in order to increase the knowledge of geothermal resources and the utilization of geothermal power in Iceland. It was later changed to the National Energy Authority (Orkustofnun) in 1967. This agency has been very successful and has made it economically viable to use geothermal energy as a source for heating in many different areas throughout the country. Geothermal power has been so successful that the government no longer has to lead the research in this field because it has been taken over by the geothermal industries.

Geothermal power plants in Iceland include Nesjavellir (120 MW), Reykjanes (100 MW), Hellisheiði (90 MW), Krafla (60 MW), and Svartsengi (46.5 MW) power plants. The Svartsengi power plant and the Nesjavellir power plant produce both electricity and hot-water for heating purposes. The move from oil-based heating to geothermal heating saved Iceland an estimated total of US $8.2 billion from 1970 to 2000 and lowered the release of carbon dioxide emissions by 37%. The equivalent amount of oil that would have been needed in 2003 to heat Iceland’s homes was 646,000 tons.

The Icelandic government also believes that there are many more untapped geothermal sources throughout the country, estimating that over 20 TWh per year of unharnessed geothermal energy is available. This is about 3.3% of the 600TWh per year of electricity used in Germany. Combined with the unharnessed feasible hydropower, tapping these sources to their full extent would provide Iceland another 50 TWh of energy per year, all from renewable sources.

Iceland's abundant geothermal energy has also enabled renewable energy initiatives, such as Carbon Recycling International's carbon dioxide to methanol fuel process, which could help reduce Iceland's dependence on fossil fuels.