A local council in South Iceland has postponed issuing a permit for the construction of a large hydropower plant on Þjórsá river to consider new information about the project’s potential environmental impacts, Vísir reports. The proposed Hvammsvirkjun hydropower plant would have an estimated capacity of around 95 MW and would create a lagoon with a surface area of 4 square kilometres [1.5 square miles].
Salmon fishermen and conservationists oppose power plant
The locality of Rangarþing ytra’s website states that a new message has been received from the Iceland’s North Atlantic Salmon Fund and the Fishing Association of Þjórsá river (Veiðifélag Þjórsár) calling on the local government to reject the National Power Company of Iceland’s request for a construction permit for the plant. “It was suggested that the matter be postponed until the next extraordinary meeting of the local council to give the locality’s environmental committee the opportunity to discuss the matter, given that new information regarding certain environmental aspects has been received,” the meeting minutes state.
One other local council is required to sign off on the hydropower plant’s construction permit, the council of Skeiðahreppur and Gnúpverjahreppur, and head of the local council Haraldur Þór Jónsson told reports the permit would be processed despite the delay in Rangarþing ytra. The National Power Company applied to the two localities for a construction permit for the plant last December after the project was approved by the National Energy Authority of Iceland.
Energy-intensive industries are largest consumers
The Hvammsvirkjun plant would have an estimated capacity of 95 MW. For comparison, Iceland’s largest hydropower plants are the Kárahnjúkar and Búrfell plants, with respective capacities of 690 KW and 270 KW. Both were built to provide power to aluminium smelters. Hellisheiði Power Station is Iceland’s largest geothermal power plant, with a capacity of 303 MW.
Snæbjörn Guðmundsson of nature conservation organisation Náttúrugrið has expressed concern that the proposed Hvammsvirkjun hydropower plant would be used towards Bitcoin mining, a growing industry in Iceland that is energy-intensive but contributes relatively little to the country’s GDP. The National Power Company has stated that it would not build power plants for the express purpose of providing energy to Bitcoin mining companies.
