Plans by Reykjavik Energy to construct five new geothermal power plants will help Iceland to meet growing energy demand resulting from the expansion of its industrial base.
Reykjavik Energy has awarded a consortium of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Balcke-Dürr a turnkey contract to build the new plants, which will have a combined capacity of 225 MW. The five plants will be completed by early 2012.
The order will bring the total number of geothermal plants built by MHI in Iceland to 15. The five plants will be built in a geothermal field 30 km east of Reykjavik, the country’s capital city.
Iceland’s government is planning to attract new aluminium refineries to the Reykjavik and boosting the region’s electricity generating capacity will be essential to the plans.
The steam turbines for the plants will be manufactured by MHI’s Nagasaki shipyard and machinery Works, while the generators will be made by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation. Balcke-Dürr will fabricate the cooling equipment.
Iceland generates nearly all of its electricity through hydropower and geothermal energy. The country sits on the fissure separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates, providing it will abundant geothermal energy resources.