Blue Lagoon with Svartsengi plant, Iceland (Picture: Vestman, (c) CC BY 2.0)
The Icelandic power company HS Orka has broken ground on the 22-MW expansion of the Svartsengi geothermal power plant. Svartsengi 7 will increase the total production capacity of the Svartsengi geothermal field to 85 MWe.
The new power plant expansion will utilize steam from older units more efficiently, allowing HS Orka to decommission the older, less efficient turbines. By replacing these units with a single, more efficeint unit, the company benefits from reduced maintenance and production costs while allowing for optimization of geothermal resources in the Svartsengi field.
Funding for the expansion comes from a combination of a new USD 61.9m CAPEX increase facility agreement from existing financiers and additional shareholder funding. This financing highlights the strong faith of both lenders and owners in the company and the expansion project.
During the groundbreaking ceremony, HS Orka’s most senior employee and long-standing deputy CEO, Albert Albertsson operated the excavator along with the contractors. Albert is the concept creator of the Resource Park and a pioneer in the ideology of turning waste into value in the geothermal industry. He has been instrumental in the build-up of all phases of the Svartsengi plant.
“We are excited to get started on the expansion of our Svartsengi power plant following the conclusion of the expansion of our power plant at Reykjanes. Both projects capture the core of our operations with better utilization of the resources we are trusted with as we are adding more production capacity without breaking into new territories. That decreases the risk and the cost.” said HS Orka CEO Tómas Sigurðsson.
