New geothermal lagoon and hotel planned in Iceland
New Geothermal Lagoon planned in South of Iceland (source: mbl.is)
Hákon Skúlason
15 Nov 2016
A new geothermal lagoon is planned in conjunction with a 100-room hotel development in the South of Iceland with an investment expected of around $44 million.
Iceland is seeing some new tourist development, with a new geothermal lagoon connected with a 100 room hotel being planned at Efri-Reykir in the South of Iceland.
The project is being worked on by local company and is located at the Golden Circle, a scenic tourism ride. Biskupstungur is a large rural area in South-Iceland. In the eighties local farmers initiated drilling for geothermal water at Efri-Reykir. 700 meters down they hit 140°C hot water with flow of 30-40 l/s. Currently the project supplies heat energy to over 500 houses in the surrounding area.
Blaskogarbyggd Municipal is planning to allow for a 2,000 sqm geothermal lagoon and 100 room hotel next to Efri Reykir. The company Efri-Reykir ltd has estimated investments to be around $44m and will create 70-100 jobs.
The plan to use the geothermal sources at Efri Reykir for large projects has been ongoing for some time now. The area is at the so called Golden Circle, one of the largest tourist area in Iceland close to Gullfoss waterfall, Geysir geothermal and Thingvellir national park.
The project has been planned in phases with the lagoon as the first phase and in later phases construction of the hotel.
Financing has already been initiated among Icelandic investors.
The development will likely help to create an additional option for the overly popular Blue Lagoon, one of the key tourist attractions in Iceland.
Source: mbl.is
