This example of Icelandic industrial symbiosis shows how co- and by-products from one business can benefit multiple other businesses.
Icelandic HS Orka operates two power plants at the Reykjanes peninsula, at Svartsengi and Reykjanes. Apart from electricity these plants also produce potable hot and cold water, steam, CO2 and brine. Other businesses co-located with the power plants in the ‘Resource Park’ use these co- and by-products. A spa and skin care clinic uses the geothermal fluid for a prime tourist attraction and to produce skin care and health products. Two more companies use the steam to process fishery by-products into dried fish products and high-value fish oil. Another company produces methanol using the waste CO2. In addition to this, a biotechnology company heats its greenhouses with the heat provided by the power plants to make growth factors for medical research and skin care products. As well as 30 jobs in the power plants ± 1,100 jobs have been created in the Resource Park.
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HS Orka’s Resource Park – Power plants that do much more