Day 3- Hellisheidi (Hellisheiðarvirkjunar) Geothermal Power Plant + Hengill hike

Today I woke up quite early so I could meet with Karitas. I got into contact with her through a chain of phone calls. I first emailed Reykjavik Energy, the owners and operators of the power plant (along with Nesjavellir). The resident engineer, Helgi, got back to me with the unfortunate message that everyone went on vacation yesterday. However, he gave me this woman's contact information, Herdis, who is responsible for some current environmental recovery projects and exoeriments associated with the fields, something I was unaware of. I called her and it turned out that she had started her vacation an hour prior to me calling. She then gave Karitas' contact information, who is working with her on these projects for the summer. Karitas is an environmental and civil engineer helping in the efforts to 'beautify' the surrounding landscape that has been impacted by the geothermal operations.

I met with her around 9AM at the visitor center, where we proceeded to tag along a few tours they give tourist buses here and there. That was great because it provided an overview of the power plant and how it works. I found out that they record earthquakes within the well, part of which is the sound the earth makes when it is splitting apart. Iceland's earthquakes occur from the splitting apart of the plates and the earth, unlike California, where they are caused by collision.

I realized that the expansion of geothermal energy is even more recent than I thought. This plant was only established in 2006 I think. It is still continuously expanding through the addition of more steam turbines for electrical generation and well drilling to harness more geothermal heat. Since it is emergent, this provides more possibility for questioning and experimentation, which makes my work even more exciting.

Next she drove me around the extensive area the geothermal plant covers and utilizes. I spreads up the mountains, or rather, some of the wells are up in the mountains, mostly near volcanoes. There are 200+ volcanoes in Iceland, most are inactive though, with a few major exceptions. Something that has been brought to my attention in the last few days by seeing all of these different modes and scales of geothermal energy harnessing and distribution, is the form of the huts that house the actual well. I have seen four different forms in the last three days, as I am sure this number is to increase. The variety is very interesting. The whole Hellisheidi plant itself had a futuristic aura and character about it. Their well houses come in the form of a semi-circular, crystalline structure. I am not quite sure what to make of it yet, but it is pretty interesting.

After the grand tour, she took me into the office to show me some before and after photos of some of the restoration efforts. It is pretty amazing how much has grown back in a few years because of their intervention.

After we bid farewell, I decided to go on a nice long hike through the southwestern part of the Hengill region. It is pretty expansive and beautiful. The ground cover is incredibly diverse considering there are no trees in sight. From mosses to sedum, grasses to flowers- it is amazing they can even exist here. It was a long hike and long day, so I am beat!

Image 1: Hellisheidi- walking over from the road
Image 2: Hellisheidi- one of many geothermal boreholes with its geodesic house
Image 3: Hellisheidi- the many pipelines is an indicator for the many boreholes. These are all coming from boreholes in the mountains to the powerplant
Image 4: Hengill- hiking in the mountains
Image 5: Hengill/Hellisheidi-view from the nearby mountain top on the way back