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Icelands Hellisheidi plant adds 90 MW to total of 303 MW in capacity

Icelands Hellisheidi plant adds 90 MW to total of 303 MW in capacity Hellisheidi geothermal power plant of Reykjavik Energy, Iceland (source: flickr/ thinkgeoenergy, creative commons)
Alexander Richter 10 Oct 2011

Reykjavik Energy starts up phase 5 of the extension of its Hellisheidi geothermal power and heat plant, adding 90 MW in power generation capacity to a total of 303 MW and 133 MW in thermal energy.

Earlier this month, local utility Reykjavik Energy celebrated the start-up of phase 5 of the Hellisheidi geothermal combined heat and power plant (CHP), located
just outside Reykjavik, Iceland. This fifth phase added an additional 90 MW of power. The plant, which was designed by a group of consulting firms led by Mannvit, is now one of the world’s largest geothermal energy plants, producing 303 MW of power and 133 MW of thermal energy for space heating and hot water.

Mannvit, as the mechanical and overall plant designer, is proud to report on the successful commissioning of the plant’s 5th phase, which added 2 x 45 MWe Mitsubishi turbines. The total cost of the 90 MW, 5th phase was approximately $197 million, or 23.5 billion ISK (Icelandic krona).

Approximately 50 geothermal wells support the entire production. Mannvit’s services for the plant design and construction included project management, overall plant design, environmental impact assessment (EIA), detailed mechanical design of the plant, HVAC and control systems design, bid document preparation and tender evaluation, site supervision, commissioning and acceptance testing.

In response to increased demand for space heating and hot water in the region, additional development plans for the Hellisheidi CHP geothermal plant includes two more heating plant phases of 133 MWth each. When complete, these additional units will bring the heating capacity of the plant to 400 MWth.

Video of the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant (by Mannvit), of the Hellisheidi geothermal plant

Source: Press release by Mannvit