The Svartsengi Power Station (Svartsengi (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈsvar̥(t)sˌeiɲcɪ]); "black meadow" in Icelandic) is a geothermal power plant, which is located in the Svartsengi geothermal field, about four km north of Grindavík, approximately 20 km SE of Keflavík International Airport and 45 km from Reykjavík. The electric power station was built in 1976 by the subsidiary of Alterra Power, HS Orka and it was the world´s first geothermal power plant for electric power generation and hot water production for district heating. The power station, which consists of an area of 150 ha, was constructed in six sequent phases (finished in 2008), in each phase they built a new power plant, so the generation capacity increased to 150 MWth for the district heating and the nameplate capacity to 75 MW for electricity power. Since the Svartsengi Power Station is the only heating system for the local district on the Reykjanes Peninsula, which pipes hot geothermal water to more than 21,000 households, it is considered one of the most important heating plants. This Geothermal Power Plant not only produces hot water and energy, but has also produced spin-offs; one of these side products is one of Iceland's most popular bathing resorts, the Blue Lagoon, and another spin off is the first renewable methanol plant, Carbon Recycling International.
