Commissioning of John Cockerill’s new Hamon® four-cell Fiber-Reinforced Plastic cooling tower at the Svartsengi geothermal power plant

Unit 7 at the Svartsengi geothermal power plant in Iceland was successfully commissioned — an important milestone for sustainable energy in the region!

John Cockerill is proud to have supplied the new Hamon® four-cell Fiber-Reinforced Plastic cooling tower that equips this expanded geothermal unit. This marks our first cooling tower in Iceland, delivered to our client HS Orka, the country’s leading renewable energy producer.

Geothermal energy plays a central role in Iceland’s clean energy landscape, providing a quarter of the nation’s electricity and 66% of its primary energy. The new 22 MW Unit 7 replaces older, less efficient units to optimize resource utilization and demonstrates HS Orka’s continued commitment to responsible, renewable energy development.

Designing equipment for Iceland means embracing true extremes. Our cooling tower was engineered to operate under sub-zero temperatures, strong winds, and significant seismic conditions – a testament to our team’s expertise in delivering robust, high performance cooling solutions even in the world’s most challenging environments.

The construction of the new unit also faced major geological challenges. The Reykjanes peninsula experienced multiple volcanic eruptions and strong seismic activity, which repeatedly disrupted access to the site and halted work for several months. Despite these exceptional natural events, HS Orka and all partners managed to keep the project remarkably close to schedule — a true achievement under such conditions!