The Krafla geothermal power station was built upon a high temperature system in NE-Iceland near Lake Myvatn. From the first exploratory drilling in 1974 to reaching full 60MW capacity in 1999, the Krafla geothermal power plant has had an interesting story.
For a while it was uncertain whether Krafla would ever actually enter operation when, early on, large-scale volcanic eruptions occurred only two kilometers away from the station, posing a serious threat to its existence. Work continued, however, and phase one of the power station went on line early in 1977.
Krafla Geothermal Power Station Timeline:
1974 - The first trial boreholes are drilled
1975 - Beginning of seismic and volcanic impacts threaten continued development of the plant
1975 - Sinking production wells and construction of power plant despite seismic activity
1977 - Power Plant begins operation
1978 - Plant begins power production
1984 - Significant decline in seismic and volcanic impacts
1996 - Installed 2nd steam turbine and beginning of additional drilling
1999 - Producing 60MW (planned capacity)
In total, 33 boreholes were drilled, including 17 high pressure production wells and 5 low-pressure production wells. The plant uses 110kg/second of 7.7 bar saturated high-pressure steam and 36 kg/sec of 2.2 bar saturated low-pressure steam and has been in operation at 60MW since 1999.
Mannvit's involvement in the Krafla geothermal power plant started in 1994 and lasted until 2002 and revolved mainly around the development of the second phase of the project.
• Feasibility report
• Site lay-out planning
• Conceptual design
• Detailed mechanical design
• Environmental impact study and report
• Modeling of groundwater flow and transportation of contaminants
• Project management
• Overall plant design
• Detailed design of HVAC systems
• Bid preparation and tender evaluation
• Site supervision