Iceland Geothermal Congress
- Events
Promotion of the GeoModel project during the Iceland Geothermal Congress
From May 28 to 30, 2024, the Iceland Geothermal Congress 2024 (IGC 2024, www.igc.is) was held at the Harpa Conference Centre in Reykjavik. This was the 5-th edition of this prestigious conference, which gathered over 500 participants from 50 countries worldwide. The conference was organized by the Iceland Renewable Energy Cluster and its members, which include the largest Icelandic companies in the energy sector, geological-geophysical reconnaissance, and drilling.
The congress brought together people from business, science, and politics. The largest companies in the world operating in almost all areas of geothermal energy, including geophysical reconnaissance, drilling, heating, electricity generation, consulting , software developers, and companies from the food sector, had their stands. The significance of the event was highlighted by speeches from the current and former Presidents of Iceland, Guðni Th. Jóhannesson (2016-2024) and Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson (1996-2016), respectively.
The GeoModel project was represented in a session dedicated to reservoir engineering, where the speakers were exclusively related to the project’s themes. They gave speeches on the following topics in the presence of over 50 attendees:
- Beata Kępińska: The importance of computational tools in the proper management of low-temperature geothermal fields in Poland and in Iceland.
- Sæunn Halldórsdóttir: Simulation of Pressure Response from Geothermal Reservoirs by an Updated Lumped Parameter Method.
- Finnbogi Óskarsson: The Highly Productive Hjalteyri Low-Temperature Geothermal System in Eyjafjördur: Lessons Learned After 20 Years of Utilization.
- Maciej Miecznik: Thermal lift effect in geothermal wells – use of Python language to automate calculations.
An important part of the congress were the field trips, which were included in the registration fee. Participants of the GeoModel project from MEERI PAS chose to visit Þingvellir – the birthplace of Icelandic parliamentarism, where the Althing first assembled in 930 AD, and also the site where the full independence of the Republic of Iceland was declared on June 17, 1944. This area is also geologically interesting as it lies at the junction of the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. The surface of the Þingvellir area is intersected by numerous faults, the most famous of which, in terms of tourism, is the Almannagjá gorge.
The field trip was continued to the Ljósafoss hydropower plant, where is an interesting educational exhibition about electricity generation in the Nesjavellir geothermal power plant.
It should also be mentioned that the GeoModel project partner, ISOR, was honored by the IGC 2024 committee with an award in the “Innovation and Technical Achievement” category. The award was given for the development and patenting of flexible couplings technology for casing pipes in high-temperature wells, thus contributing to greater reliability during the drilling and operation of high-temperature geothermal systems.
On the second day of the congress (May 29), another lava eruption occurred on the Reykjanes Peninsula from a several kilometer long fissure, posing a significant threat to the town of Grindavik. The residents were immediately evacuated.
Photos: Beata Kępińska, Maciej Miecznik (MEERI PAS), Anna Sowiżdżał (AGH University)
The project is financed under the Fund for Bilateral Relations through the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism (EEA FM) and the Norwegian Financial Mechanism (NFM) 2014-2021, programme “Environment, Energy and Climate Change”.
Project Operator: Ministry of Climate and Environment