A single well has the capacity of 5-10 MW, or enough to serve approximately 700-1400 typical Nordic houses during wintertime. Through the so-called Icelandic Deep Drilling Project (IDDP), a joint Icelandic energy consortium established in 2000, it is hoped to increase production from each new bore-hole up to 50 MW. In other words enough to provide energy for 7000 houses.
The new type of drilling raises many technical challenges. One is simply to drill 4-5 km deep, a second is that the temperature here would be 450-600 degrees, which is very hot. Thirdly, the steam pressure here would be no less than 230-260 bars, which is also very high.
Around Reykjavik surplus-heat from the geothermal power-stations is used for heating buildings, pavements, streets and swimming-pools, but in areas away from the population-centres new uses are needed in order to get full use of the exploited geothermal energy. One idea, currently being discussed, is to build large green-houses for certain types of plants for export. Major advantages could be gained as compared to warmer areas, where vermin and insects can be problematic. Iceland as such is almost sterile in comparison.
Also off-shore
Oil and gas in Icelandic waters? – We do not yet know whether this is the case but we are rather optimistic, says Kristinn Einarsson. He is the projector coordinator at Orkustofnun.
Later this summer the Icelandic authorities will announce the procedures to be used for those seeking to apply for licenses to explore various parts of the country's seabed. The Ministry of Industry will decide on the basic modalities in respect of how and when.
– We will start at the Jan Mayen ridge, which we think is an area with definitive possibilities judging by the geophysical conditions, Einarsson explains.
In terms of oil-and gas-exploration it is relatively deep water here: 1 000-1 500 metres to the ocean floor. This is deeper than the Russian field Stockman or Norwegian resources in the Barents Sea, but in terms of distance from shore it is about the same. – In the Gulf of Mexico however, experience of drilling to such depths is common, adds the representative from the National Energy Authority.
Einarsson says that large parts of the Icelandic seabed are covered with lava: – This makes seismic sampling somewhat difficult since these volcanic layers generally act as mirrors, and thus we generally have to operate here with a degree of uncertainty.
It is then possible that ten years from now Iceland will start to produce oil or gas based on off-shore drilling. Or perhaps, they atleast could have a refinery, based on imports from Russia. Some private interests have announced such plans for the second option at Drafjördur in the far north-west of the country.
New ocean-cable?
Sometime thereafter a new ocean-cable could be in operation, connecting the electrical system of Iceland with that of the United Kingdom, and thereby also with the European continent, if not directly to the continent itself. Iceland would by then have entered a new era as an energy-exporter.
– A 580 km long cable, the longest so far, has already been laid between Norway and the Netherlands. So the technology already exists, explains director Thorkell Helgason.
He notes also that a similar connection between Iceland and Scotland would be 1000-1200 km in length, depending on the landing point, and some 1700 km if directly to the European mainland: – I do not think that distance will be the problem. It is more a question of cost.
A cable like this will carry the same price tag as the hydro or geothermal power-stations supplying the cable. Therefore to successfully export electricity, we must get double the price of what we get inside Iceland, if we want to break even. However, he adds, direct export of electricity is like exporting a raw material and creates very few new permanent jobs in Iceland.
A potential submarine cable will not only be a means to expand the harnessing of Iceland's energy resources. – An additional advantage will come with the increased potential is a connection to the European grid, which might become useful when we have dry years. That would be welcomed as a safety-valve for both industries and households, Helgason underlines.
By Odd Iglebaek