A parliamentary resolution was submitted to Althingi yesterday, proposing that a committee be established to form a strategy for making all power lines subterranean that are still above ground in the next few years. All MPs of the Althingi Environment Committee agree on this issue.
“If the community is prepared to pay the additional cost involved in moving power lines underground, Landsnet [which has a monopoly status for transmission of electricity for Iceland under the surveillance of the National Energy Authority] will not vote against it,” director of Landsnet Thórdur Gudmundsson told Morgunbladid.
According to a statement accompanying the resolution, the attitude towards power lines has changed in Iceland. They were once a symbol of progress and prosperity but are now considered to visually mar the environment.
Having subterranean power lines is considered less expensive in the long run than having aboveground cables, although repairing subterranean cables is both more expensive and takes more time than repairing aboveground cables.
However, subterranean cables are likely to be subject to fewer failures, because they are not affected by factors like icing, salt pollution and storms, which is the main cause of blackouts and electrical disturbances.
