Wells in Svartsengi

Drilling geothermal wells at Svartengi began in 1971. The of first well was drilled down to 262 m, but whereas the temperature of the well fluid turned out to be around 37°C the fluid was used as drilling fluid for the next well. The first well drilled is located near by the CRI renewable methanol plant. Next two wells were drilled in the beginning of the year 1972 adjacent to the main road to Grindavik at the location where today one sees steam escape from the ground. The deeper well was 402 m deep therefore almost reaching down into the actual geothermal system at Svartsengi. The temperature was above 215 °C and a little bit lower in the other well. These wells confirmed the existence of the high temperature geothermal resource at Svartsengi. Two more wells were drilled in the next two years. The wells were drilled deep into the reservoir (1713 m) so when Hitaveita Sudurnesja, in 1976 commenced harnessing the geothermal field at Svartsengi there were already five wells drilled. During the six following years the company drilled six more wells and well number 13 was predrilled, the surface casing cemented but the well not completed. During this time production of hot water increased and generation of house load power commenced. The oldest wells were abandoned because of casing failures. No more wells were drilled until in the year 1993, two wells were drilled. Just before the year 2000 six more wells were drilled in order to increase the power capacity of the power plant (30 MWe). During these years the company learned to master hot fluid injection of brine into the deep seated geothermal reservoir and the fluid volume re-injected increased year by year. In the year 2008 three high temperature wells were drilled for increased power production. Today the total number of high temperature wells at Svartsengi is 24.

Wells drilled in Svartsengi.

Wells drilled in Reykjanes

Wells drilled in other locations