Krafla Geothermal Electric Power Plant, Iceland
- Key words
- Power Generation; Case History; Iceland; Krafla; Geology; Volcanoes; Construction; Corrosion & Erosion; Material Selection; Drilling; Explorations
- Location
- Krafla, Iceland
- Conference
- Geothermal Resources Council Transactions
- Year
- 1980
- Session
- Power plant design and operation; Exploration; Volcanism; Hi
- Language
- English
Abstract
Description is given of Iceland's first major Geothermal Electric Power Plant, constructed at Krafla Geothermal Field located northeast Iceland. The power consists of two 30 MW Turbine-Generator units with underlying direct contact jet condenser. The cooling water is circulated through a forced draft crossflow cooling tower. The turbine is a double pressure, impulse turbine with 5 stages. The construction started in 1975 simultaneously with production wells being drilled. The start up of one unit on part load (8MW) was commissioned in February 1978. Shortly after the powerhouse exterior shell was completed, volcanic eruption occurred on the e20th December 1975 about 3 km away from the powerhouse. Although the eruption lasted only a few hours a spectacular rifting episode affecting a 80 km long segment of the plate boundary has continue up to data with few short eruptions. This has caused some difficult in the steam production.
Copyright 1980, Geothermal Resources Council. Readers who download papers from this site should honour the copyright of the original authors, and may not copy or distribute the work further without the permission of the original publisher.