Geothermal boreholes being drilled in Hungary by Iceland’s Mannvit Engineering are reportedly seeing good results. Drilling of the first holes in the town on Szentlorinc in southwest Hungary was completed in recent days. Read the full story

Magma Energy Corporation from Canada has announced that they will invest in the companies of Geysir Green Energy and HS Orka in Iceland, which are partners with Asbru’s clean energy development. Asbru will gain much from this investment opportunity including better knowledge to further develop green energy research. Read the full story

To make it easier for foreign visitors to Iceland to connect with Iceland’s hundreds of geothermal swimming options, the website swimminginiceland.com was created. Read the full story

Several Icelandic companies have ambitions to use Iceland’s renewable energy, ample land, cool climate, educated workforce and low crime rate to turn the country into a global data centre hub.

According to one such company, Data Islandia, and its international partner, Hitachi Data Systems, the economic crisis is not affecting the plans adversely.

Businessgreen.com reports that the companies are confident that foreign investors remain positive and that the weakness of the Icelandic krona is actually reducing costs, such as the laying of fibre optic cables for foreign investors. Read the full story

It has come to light that certain bacteria may be able to ‘eat’ the hydrogen sulphide from geothermal power station steam emissions and thereby reduce pollution. The initial research results look promising, but scientists working at the Hellisheidi power station research lab in Iceland must carry out further research before releasing final results, RUV.is reports.

For the last two years, a small research station has been conducting the experiment at the Nesjavellir power station. In their experiments, scientists passed the geothermal emissions through ten litre containers of different sorts of bacteria to see which was best at removing the hydrogen sulphide.

Jakob K. Kristjansson, doctor of biochemistry, say that the initial findings suggest that bacteria could be useful in cleaning the emissions from geothermal power stations. But it has yet to be confirmed if the Read the full story

Drillers drilling for hot water on the northern Icelandic island of Grimsey (the only part of Iceland to cross the Arctic Circle) have now reached a depth of 460 metres and are now finding water at 55 degrees centigrade.

Engineers on the project are happy with progress, but still hope to hit a high pressure area of much hotter subterranean water, visir.is reports.

The drilling began on Grimsey last autumn, and engineer Fridfinnur K. Danielsson believes that the work is going well to date; especially as hot water drilling has never previously been undertaken on Grimsey.

As testament to the widespread and growing support for clean geothermal energy, the President of Iceland, as well as officials of the current Bush and former Clinton Administrations, are scheduled to speak at a workshop in New York City, 23rd July.

Alexander Karsner, Department of Energy Assistant Secretary, and former Assistant Secretary Dan Reicher (now Google.org Director for Climate Change and Energy Initiatives) are both on the agenda for the event. \

The keynote luncheon speaker will be the President of Iceland, Olafur Ragnar Grimsson.
Glitnir Capital Corp together with The Geothermal Energy Association (GEA) and Ormat will host a geothermal energy finance and development workshop at the Ritz-Carlton, Battery Park in New York City on Wednesday, July 23rd to introduce geothermal energy to the NYC finance community. The event will feature an all-star cast of expert presenters from leading companies in the geothermal industry.

The workshop, entitled “Geothermal 101-The Hottest Clean Energy Source,” will include morning sessions in which leading professionals will cover the basics of geothermal energy. In the afternoon, presentations will include an overview of the world and U.S. geothermal markets, an interactive finance panel with top geothermal financiers and developers, and a showcase of companies developing new projects and technologies. Among companies participating are: Glitnir Capital Corp., Ormat, Google.org, MidAmerican Energy, EGS Inc., ThermaSource, U.S. Renewables Group, Merrill Lynch, GeothermEx, UTC Power, Terra-Gen Power, Western GeoPower, Raser Technologies, Iceland America Energy, Geysir Green Energy, Vulcan Power, and Enel North America.

Geothermal energy today provides power in California, Nevada, Hawaii, Utah, Idaho, and Alaska. According to GEA, more than 80 new geothermal power projects are being built in 12 states. When completed, these projects will represent an investment of over $11 billion and more than double U.S. geothermal power production. In 2006, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory issued separate reports estimating that geothermal energy could potentially provide over 100,000 MW of electric power.

Reykjavik Energy of Iceland recently placed a large order with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) for machinery to use in the construction of geothermal power plants. According to RenewableEnergyWorld.com, five geothermal power plants of 45-megawatts each were ordered and be delivered between October 2010 and February 2012.

MHI’s Nagaskai Shipyard ad Machinery Works will manufacture the steam turbines which will be used in the suburbs of Iceland’s capital. In addition, Mitsubishi Electric Corporation will provide the project with generators and Blacke-Durr will manufacture the power plant’s cooling equipment.

The geothermal field currently being developed is located just 30 kilometres east of Reykjavik.

Iceland uses renewable energy sources for the majority of its electrical needs. An estimated 80 per cent of the country’s electricity is generated by hydropower, with the rest coming mostly from geothermal sources.

MHI has supplied geothermal power plants to locations outside Japan, giving machines with a total capacity of over 2,700 megawatts to other geothermal projects.

In a recent interview with Itar-Tass News Agency, Iceland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ingibjorg Solrun Gisladottir, spoke about the possibilities for increased cooperation between the Nordic nation and Russia, particularly in the field of geothermal energy.

During the interview, Gisladottir said: “The issue of cooperation between the two countries in the energy sector, first of all in the geothermal energy, has been considered.”

She continued: “Iceland has great experience and knowledge in this sphere, and there is a great potential here for the two countries’ cooperation in development of some geothermal springs on the territory of Russia.”

The possibility for cooperation between the two countries has been discussed in the past. In May this year, Viktor Tatarintsev, Russia’s ambassador to Iceland said that there was a great potential for cooperation between Iceland and Russia in the development of geothermal energy.

Iceland’s experience, according to Tatarintsev, could prove valuable to Russians working to develop geothermal projects in Kamchatka and the Krasnodar Territory.

Representatives from Iceland’s geothermal sector first made contact with Russian colleagues in 2007 when the mayor of Reykjavik and a team of delegates visited Moscow. At that time, members of Iceland’s geothermal branch met with members of the Russian Hydro OGK.

Icelandic experts in the geothermal field visited Kamchatka at the end of May this year and offered their assistance to developing the geothermal springs there.

Icelandic President Olafur Ragnar Grimsson recently participated in a debate in Doha entitled the “Economics of Energy.” According to reports by CNN, the President started things off strong, stating that energy was the most crucial question of today’s age.

CNN anchor Michael Holmes began the debate with a few questions. President Grimsson drew from his experience in Iceland to answer, pointing out the changes he’s observed in the past 40 years in the way Iceland gets its fuel.

According to the President, in the 60’s, Iceland was reliant on coal and oil whereas today, renewable energy is the largest source of Iceland’s electrical power. More than 80 per cent of the country’s total fuel requirements come from renewable energy sources, he said.

Grimsson said that Iceland is “proof that it is possible within the lifetime of one generation to transform the energy systems of our countries because I don’t accept that we are so special that only we can do it.”

Grimsson pointed out that geothermal energy sources were an important part of renewable resource use but not the only element. “If we combine that with wind and wave power and other resources like bioenergy we will have the possibility of meeting the energy demands required to sustain a growing economy for every country in the world, not only in this century but the centuries to come,” he said.