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Up to 500 jobs in startups related to geothermal activities around Svartsengi

Up to 500 jobs in startups related to geothermal activities around Svartsengi Reykjanes power plant of HS Orka, Iceland (source: Commons/ Wikimedia)
Alexander Richter 17 Dec 2014

Over 500 jobs have been created in startups surrounding the geothermal activities of HS Orka on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland. These include jobs in cosmetics, spa operations to greenhouses, fish farming and drying.

In a TV interview on Icelandic television station Channel 2, Albert Albertson, Deputy CEO of HS Orka talked about the various business activities around the geothermal operations at his company’s geothermal plants at Svartsengi and the Reykjanes plant on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland.

About 500 people are now working in different innovative companies utilizing geothermal energy or the benefits thereof.

In the greenhouses of ORF biotechnology, genetically modified barley is grown for the production of cosmetics. Kristinn Grétarsson CEO ORF biotechnology, mentioned as an example of his company’s success that sales of its cosmetics products were the best-selling products on aircrafts of British Airways, and the first product outselling alcohol and tobacco.

The “waste” water from the Svartsengi plant, has created the biggest tourist attraction in Iceland, the Blue Lagoon, a geothermal spa destination. It is today the best known brand of Iceland with its cosmetic products being the most sold cosmetic products in Iceland.

The most expensive fish to eat these days is grown in the indoor fish farming operations of Stolt Sea Farms near the Reykjanes plant. Haustak, a company drying fish, utilizes geothermal heat for its operations.

Carbon Recycling, a company that has developed methods to utilize CO2 from the Svartsengi plant to produce methanol is now planning to expand its operations.

In the interview, Albert Albertsson also talks about that the direct jobs in the geothermal power plants are only about 30, while there are now around 500 people working in startups that utilize geothermal energy either directly or indirectly.

Below the video (in Icelandic), but it might be interesting to see some of the things despite the language.

 

Source: Stöð 2/ Visir.is