Additional geothermal plant in Iceland to capture and reinject CO2

Theistareykir geothermal power plant, Iceland (source: Landsvirkjun)

In a press releases shared today, Icelandic national power company Landsvirkjun announced a new project that is to capture and reinject carbon dioxide from the Theistareykir Geothermal Station, as well as reducing carbon dioxide emissions from the Krafla Geothermal Power Station through enhanced well management.

This project has been named Koldís. Construction is expected to commence in 2023, and Koldís should be fully operational in 2025.

Landsvirkjun will be carbon neutral in 2025 and is currently well on the way to reach that target, as the carbon footprint from its operations has been reduced by 61% from 2008. The key factor is to significantly reduce emissions from geothermal electricity generation, whereas most of greenhouse gas emissions from the Company’s operations stem from geothermal operations. The Koldís project means that from 2025 almost all carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide from the Þeistareykir Geothermal Station will be captured and reinjected to the underground.

Hörður Arnarson, CEO: “Koldís is an important project for Landsvirkjun in the coming years. Koldís is yet another example of the Company’s progressive climate targets and a key action in reaching carbon neutrality in 2025.”

Closing the Carbon Cycle

The Koldís project is currently in the engineering design phase for the capture and reinjection of carbon dioxide from the Theistareykir Geothermal Station. The plan is to capture both carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) from the station, dissolve in water and reinject into its natural environment. Thereby, the cycle of these gases in the geothermal energy generation is closed, instead of breaking the cycle and releasing the gases into the atmosphere. The main components of this system are a scrubbing tower, piping from the scrubbing tower to the injection site, a reinjection well, and a monitoring well.

Furthermore, pathways towards reducing the carbon dioxide emissions from Krafla Power Station are being developed. This can be done by enhanced geothermal well management, as carbon dioxide emissions vary substantially from one geothermal well to the next. This will result in an action plan, with the aim of keeping carbon dioxide emissions at a minimum, while also minimizing the effect from these measures on the electricity generation at Krafla Power Station.

Consultation by Mannvit and Carbfix

Landsvirkjun has hired the international consulting firm Mannvit and the carbon dioxide sequestration company Carbfix as consultants for the project design of Koldís, a phase which is estimated to be completed this year. The solutions will be based on a methodology for the reduction of geothermal gas emissions that was in part developed in a collaboration of Landsvirkjun, HS Orka and Reykjavík Energy (OR) about a decade ago. The project is expected to utilise patent pending methods of Carbfix, a subsidiary of Reykjavik Energy.

The reduction in emissions from geothermal electricity generation directly contribute to Iceland’s international climate commitments. The government’s Climate Action Plan aims for emissions from geothermal power stations in Iceland to be reduced by 47% in 2030 compared to the year 2005. Landsvirkjun is determined to do even better and aims for reducing emissions from geothermal energy generation in Northeast Iceland by at least 60% by 2025 compared to 2005.

Source: Landsvirkjun, RUV