Variety of Steam Turbines in Svartsengi and Reykjanes Geothermal Power Plants

Abstract

This paper introduces the geothermal steam turbines supplied to Svartsengi Power Plant and Reykjanes Power Plant from 1980 to 2010. Every time a new turbine was designed, a new unique feature was added in an effort to extend effective utilization of the geothermal resources.

The first turbine-generator unit was supplied for Svartsengi Unit 3; the turbine is a simple back-pressure 6 MW type and its exhaust steam has been contributed to the production of district heating water. The second one was for Svartsengi Unit 5, the turbine is condensing type and equipped with two steam extractions which drastically extended the capabilities of both power generation and heated water production of the plant. The third supply was for Reykjanes Geothermal Power Plant, where the steam admitted to the turbines has the world-highest pressure for the geothermal power generation. Also this power plant is unique by its usage of the seawater. The forth one was for Svartsengi Unit 6, the turbine is condensing type and has a controlled extraction which allows large variation in flow rate of the extracted steam and enabled advanced optimization of geothermal resource usage in Svartsengi Geothermal Power Plant.