Landsvirkjun has submitted a power station licence application to the National Energy Authority (Orkustofnun) for the planned Búrfellslundur power station. Búrfellslundur’s generation capacity will be 120 MW, and the power station will utilise the facilities and infrastructure already in place at the Company’s largest energy generating areas at the rivers Þjórsá and Tungnaá.
Since 2012, the Company has conducted research on the feasibility of constructing a wind power station to the north of Mt. Búrfell. The generation capacity will be 120 MW and the location is expected to be within Landsvirkjun’s largest energy generating areas at the rivers Þjórsá and Tungnaá. The experience from operating two research windmills at Hafið, the lava field to the north of Mt. Búrfell, for the last decade has revealed that the location is extremely suitable for electricity generation from wind power.
Emphasis on Minimising Visual Impact
In June 2022, Búrfellslundur was included in the utilisation category of the Master Plan for Nature Protection and Energy Utilisation, when Althingi passed a parliamentary resolution for updated classification for power station options. The resolution details a new plan for Búrfellslundur, where the scale was lowered from 200 MW to 120 MW, from the previous plan submitted in 2016.
Búrfellslundur’s new plan takes note of observations and comments that were submitted during development stages of the former plan. Emphasis is put on minimising the visual impact from the wind power station, and the Company has set forth a new plan that minimises the wind power station’s presence from tourist routes and tourist attractions in its vicinity.
