Reykjavik Energy signs cooperation of geothermal development in Ölfus, Iceland

Signing of cooperation agreement between Reykjavik Energy and the Ölfus municipality, Iceland (source: Ministry of Environment, Energy, and Climate)

Reykjavik Energy (Orkuveita Reykjavíkur / OR) has signed a memorandum of understanding with the municipality of Ölfus in Iceland for a joint geothermal development. The two parties announced plans to jointly apply for a research license along with municipal energy company Titan with a view to the cooperation.

If the exploration permit is obtained with priority for utilization, it is planned to sign a letter of intent regarding the utilization of the geothermal resource for the production of electricity and hot water in a responsible manner and with the minimization of environmental impact as a guideline. It is also emphasized that products from the power plant will be used to create value for the local community, Ölfus and Hveragerði.

The proposed cooperation was sealed with the signing of a letter of intent today at Elliðaárstöð, which is Orkuveitun’s new destination in Elliðaárdal.

Guðlaugur Þór Þórðarson, Minister of the Environment, Energy and Climate, said on this occasion that his role was, among other things, to consider energy security in the country, and one part of that was to bring together different parties to cooperate. Both the CEO of Orkuveita Reykjavíkur and the regional manager thanked Minister Ölfuss for his involvement in the agreement.

“It is very important that all parties work together in order to speed up the energy exchange and ensure energy security in the region and the entire country. I am happy that the municipality of Ölfus and Orkuveitan agree to continue with these important projects in good agreement with the parties involved,” says Guðlaugur Thór.

It is confirmed that Ölfusdalur is rich in geothermal resources, but Veitur uses them for domestic heating in Hveragerði today. Research has been carried out in the area for years, and there are considered chances that the resource can be used better for the production of both electricity and hot water, similar to what Veitur and Orka natturunnar do in the Hengil area.

“Due to the uncertainty about the response of geothermal systems to production, it is generally not desirable for unrelated parties to use the same geothermal resource. We welcome this collaboration with Títan, especially with regard to responsible resource utilization,” says Hera Grímsdóttir, Executive Director of Research and Innovation at OR.

Elliði Vignisson, mayor of Ölfus, echoed the sentiment. “We here in Ölfus have been working for some time to increase welfare on the basis of environmentally friendly value creation. We know and recognize that without value creation, there will be no welfare. We also know that access to energy is a prerequisite for the large environmental projects we are involved in, such as in terms of  land farming  of salmon, cultivation of microalgae for human consumption, operation of greenhouses and more.”

“If we want to create value like what we are currently working on, we need to source the energy, and we plan to do that based on the environmental considerations that we want to represent in cooperation with our good partners in Orkuveita Reykjavíkur,” said Vignisson.

Hera also said that, along with the joint application for a research permit, work will begin to investigate the feasibility and assess the processing capacity of the area and pre-design the power plant based on the information that is already available.

There, all emphasis will be placed on the full utilization of the geothermal resource, where products from the power plant will, among other things, be used to create value for the local community, Ölfus and Hveragerði.

Source: Ministry of the Environment, Energy, and Climate