Once the poorest country in Europe now has one of the top living standards and all thanks to geothermal energy, this can be a short description of Iceland’s geothermal energy story! Having located on both Iceland Hotspot and North Atlantic Ridge this is comparatively a newly formed land and has the highest geological activity in the form of volcanoes and geysers. Iceland is mainly developed and inhabited along the coastline as the central uninhibited part of Iceland is consist of highlands, volcanoes, geysers and lava field.
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| Hellisheidarvirkjun geothermal station |
It’s capital Reykjavik, the most northerly capital in the world also got its name from this geothermal phenomenon. The first explorer wrongly thought the steam coming from land as smoke and so he gave name ‘Smokey Bay’ i.e Reykjavik!
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| Geysers |
Previously considered a gift from the devil, people were scared of geothermal energy till 18th century but slowly they started using hot water from natural geothermal springs for daily use and then Iceland pioneered the use of geothermal power in space heating! 25% of the country’s energy demand is served by geothermal energy plants.
Iceland is almost 100% powered by clean energy out of which 75 % is hydroelectric power and 25 % is geothermal energy. Geothermal energy is mainly used for space heating (for homes, offices, parking, roads), hot water, hot water for farming in greenhouses, thermal pools, etc. There are currently 9 geothermal power plants in Iceland, most of them can be run by only 2 people! These power plants provide in excess of 5000 GWh of electricity per year. Iceland has one of the largest geothermal power plant Hellisheidi Power Station, which gives a maximum output of 303MW of electricity and owned by the capital city of Reykjavik.
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| Blue Lagoons |
The famous Blue lagoons is actually a reservoir of runoff water from a geothermal power plant situated in an 800-year-old lava field in the heart of the Reykjanes Peninsula – a UNESCO Geopark and hold nine million liters of geothermal seawater and it’s recirculated every 40 hours. Unfortunately, I could not visit Blue lagoons this time because I didn’t get a booking as per my convenience but if you are planning to visit it book it a few weeks early and don’t forget to check out a short walk around to see the lava field.
But then you can’t really skip thermal pools when you are in Iceland and I got an opportunity to visit Fontana Spa during golden circle trip and a public pool in Reykjavik!
Laugarvatn Fontana Geothermal Baths
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| Laugarvatn Fontana |
Laugarvatn Fontana geothermal baths are located just next to Lake Laugarvatn on ga olden circle route. There are three hot springs at the shore of the lake Laugarvatn and Fontana spa is built on of these geothermal springs. There are all open-air pools of different temperature in the Fontana facility surrounded by beautiful stone artwork. I visited Fontana on a stormy day, already being a start of winter it was cold (maybe a lot cold for me) and on the top of it, was windy and raining. But I would say it was a perfect day to visit the thermal pool! It was tricky to reach pools from changing and shower area wearing just swimming suite in that weather but worth the relaxing time I spent in the geothermal pool.
It was so soothing to just relax in mineral-rich natural hot spring and was even more memorable I
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| Steam rooms at Fontana |
think because of sharing experiences and having a great talk in that pool with travelers from around the world right from Europe, South America, Canada, and even Australia and so on! No doubt spending time in thermal pools must be Icelander’s favorite past-time!
After my body was totally relaxed in the bath, it was much harder this time to get out of the pool and walk up to the shower room in a very cold and windy evening! But all thanks to geothermal steam rooms on the way, where I took refuge on that hardest short walk in my life! Hot, healing steam simmer directly from the ground through grids in the wooden cabin floors of these steam rooms, an experience not to be missed!
Laugardalslaug, Reykjavik
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| Geothermal baths at Laugardalslaug |
Another thermal pool experience I got was at Laugardalslaug, it’s a great place for families with kids as there are an indoor and outdoor swimming pool, largest in the city, water slides, hot baths and tubs, baby pool, sauna, beach volleyball court with sand and mini golf course. It’s fun to swim or relax with locals here! But what I loved the most about it was an insider tour I got with the technical head of the facility!
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| Hot Baths |
Being a sustainability engineer by profession, it was on top of my list to get to see a technical part of this geothermal energy utilization. Isleifur Fridriksson was so kind as to spare some time and took me to the basement to show their plant rooms and on the tour of the facility! Started his career as a blacksmith, worked at an oldest thermal pool in Iceland, passionate about an outdoor lifestyle, a part-time tourist guide Isleifur is a member of Icelandic Glacier Research Society and is very busy at 60 and still loves to climb mountains!
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| Isleifur Fridriksson, Laugardalslaug Technical head |
The hot water coming from the geothermal station is at 90 degrees so the Heat Exchanger reduces the water temperature to 28 degrees for swimming pools. 100 tonnes of water is recycled every day. The thin layer of water from the swimming pool consists of impurities is discarded and only 10 fresh water is added on a daily basis.
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| Water Filters in Plant Room |
These huge water filters are used to filter the water during the water recycling process. The sustainability features of these thermal pools don’t end here. Isleifur informed me they were previously using industrial chlorine but industrial chlorine lead to corrosion so since a few years they now making their chlorine out of food-grade salt by using electrolysis process! Which is milder and so safer and healthier for people in the swimming pool and don’t corrode anything in the back of the house. I was thoroughly impressed by the system here and the geothermal energy application in this country! One can even visit Geothermal Energy Exhibition Hellisheiði Power Plant outside Reykjavik!
Geothermal Energy in Reykjavik
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| Perlan |
The Perlan (The Pearl) structure on Öskjuhlið hill, south of downtown Reykjavík popular for great views of the city from there is actually another spot for geothermal power! These 6 large cylinders are actually storage tanks of hot water to meet periodic changes in demand. Unlike other tourists, I visited the site just to see if I can find out more about geothermal energy here. I found some interesting photos hanging on the lower ground floor. There is an artificial geyser in the middle of the building which spouts into air frequently. I saw some children getting excited and entertained by it. When I walked around the building I could find some interesting structure or possible exhaust vents and maybe plant room’s viewing windows. There is also a hot spring outside the Perlan.
When you are in Iceland you can’t fail to notice abundant geothermal energy be it steam coming from geothermal power plants on your road trips or frequent sighting of boreholes in Reykjavik! Though the geothermal (hot) water distribution system is underground in cities like Reykjavik, I could spot numerous boreholes during my walks in the city. In general, these are stainless steel structures and you can see steam rising from exhaust vents!
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| Bore Holes in Reykjavik |
I even used a geothermal steam vent pipe in Ingólfstorg square (in front of tourist information center) as hand warmers! Not just buildings but even sidewalks in cities are heated by geothermal energy so no need to shovel snow in winter! Every time you take shower in Iceland and you don’t like the smell, that is because of the sulfur in water as all hot water supplied to the building is heated by using geothermal energy!
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| Vent pipes in Ingólfstorg square |
Also highly recommend this unique guide ‘Sustainable Travel to Iceland‘, don’t forget to download the free guide which will come handy during your travel.
2 Comments
This is so fascinating! Thanks for the detailed info.
My pleasure Tarana! A big of my travel, exploring sustainable features of my destination and happy to share with my readers!
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