Arion Bank has plans to sell the silicon plant in Helguvík, Southwest Iceland, to PCC BakkiSilicon. The two parties have signed a statement of intent for the sale. Kjarninn reports that both residents and municipal authorities oppose the reopening of the plant. The plant opened in 2016, but was quickly plagued by operational troubles and ultimately went bankrupt amidst widespread community outcry over the environmental and health impact it was having on the surrounding communities.
“The Municipal Council of Reykjanesbær has repeatedly expressed its views on the operation of the silicon plant to Arion Bank,” local councillor Friðjón Einarsson stated, adding that there is opposition both among residents and local councillors to opening the plant. “We have formally requested to work with with the bank to dismantle the plant and start collaborating on developing employment in Helguvík. Unfortunately, that has not happened.”
Arion Bank has drawn up plans to renovate, reopen, and expand the plant. The Icelandic National Planning Agency (Skipulagsstofnun) released a report on those plans on December 31, 2021, which stated that the changes would likely reduce malfunctions at the plant, a repeated issue when the plant was still in operation. The report also stated that while the renovations would lessen the plant’s impact on air quality, the impact would still be negative in the first phase of operation and quite negative if all four ovens were to operate at once.
Read More: Emissions Will Increase by 10% if Plant Reopens
“We will try everything we can to stop the reopening and will continue to ask the bank to halt [its plans],” Friðjón stated. “In my opinion, the bank has no right to do this and it’s really unbelievable that the bank isn’t listening to the area’s residents.” He points out that it was Arion Bank that funded the plant, a project that “failed miserably and [the bank] thus holds a lot of responsibility for how it went.” Friðjón says Reykjanesbær authorities have heard there is interest from abroad in buying the plant, dismantling it and exporting its parts abroad. Friðjón says local authorities have told PCC BakkiSilicon that the local residents have no interest in their purchase and reopening of the plant and will fight against it.
