"Everything looks very good"

The operation of the power plant in Svartsengi is uninterrupted despite the volcanic eruption that began yesterday. Last night it looked as though the high-voltage lines might be in danger, but the lava tongue appeared to have stopped this morning, 200 meters from the high-voltage lines and the hot-water pipes.

This is what Krist­inn Har­ðar­son, CEO of production at HS Orka, says to mbl.is.

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Short notice a cause for concern

“Svartsengi is fully operational and there is no interruption due to the eruption. Likewise, all the pipelines from the power plant are safe. The lava tongue that came there stopped a bit from the high-voltage lines and our hot water pipeline, so there was no impact on those pipelines,” he says.

It looked bad at one point

The power plant was remotely controlled last night from the Reykjanes power plant, but now employees are back at Svartsengi.

At one point during the night, things were looking bad when the lava tongue seemed to be reaching dangerously close to Svartsengi-line 1 and the hot water layer. The hot water layer had been weighed down but Svartsengi-line 1 was somewhat vulnerable. Workers went to Svartsengi last night to take preventive measures.

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Behaves like a Krafla eruption

“We took such preventive measures to ensure electricity security in the power plant and therefore we had to take electricity off Grindavík for a short period because of that.

This was done to improve the operational stability of the plant so that it could supply hot water completely intact, in case there was a short-circuit on the high-voltage line. But everything has been restored to normal operation,” Harðarson says.

Energy plant safe

Is there anything else you're worried about now, or does it all look good?

“Everything looks very good. It seems that the lava field has stopped at this point and while it does, the operation is safe and the power plant is safe within the defense walls.”