HRV Engineering has a unique and impressive level of expertise and experience in the geothermal energy sector, having played a leading role in much Iceland's development going back to the 1970's. We have helped design and construct numerous geothermal power plants and are extensively involved in the geothermal heating systems design and maintenance for the City of Reykjavik, the City of Hafnafjorður and numerous other municipalities throughout Iceland. Few others can match our experience in this field.
Our involvement in these projects includes: civil, structural, mechanical and electrical engineering design, feasibility studies, site investigations, cost estimates, contract documents, bid evaluations, environmental impact assessments and reports, project management, construction management, project planning and on-site inspections.
There are generally two different ways to exploit geothermal energy. The first method produces electricity, the second one heats up water for use in home heating. Iceland uses flash steam power plants to produce electricity. Some geothermal power plants produce both electricity and hot water for heating purposes and some only produce electricity. An example of this would be the Krafla Geothermal Power Station. Currently, in Iceland, there are three major geothermal power plants which produce approximately 20% of the country's electricity. These plants also provide geothermal heating to the vast majority of the nation's housing. The surplus water from one of these geothermal power plants, located near the international airport, supplies mineral rich water for the popular tourist bathing resort, Blue Lagoon (Bláa Lónið).
Project Examples
- Nesjavellir Geothermal Electrical Power Station, the largest in Iceland, is situated in the southwest part of the country and produces about 150 MW of electricity and about 500 to 800 liters/second of heating water.
- Krafla Geothermal Electrical Power Station, situated in the northeast corner of Iceland, produces 90 MW of electricity after a major expansion.
Few places in the world have as much geothermal development as Iceland. Almost every home stays nice and warm thanks to this extensive network of geothermal heating. Also, a significant percentage of the electricity comes from geothermal power plants. These power plants also supply clean, renewable electricity to the aluminum plants that HRV Engineering is a part of, including the Norðurál aluminum reduction plant which is currently undergoing a major expansion from 90,000 tpy to 220,000 tpy and the 160,000 tpy ÍSAL plant.
For more information, we invite you to contact us.