Hellisheiði (Ölfus)
The Hellisheiði [ ˈhɛtlɪsˌheiːðɪ ] is a plateau between Reykjavík and Hveragerði in southwest Iceland. It is located in the municipality of Ölfus .
geography
It is located south and west of the Hengill mountain range .
Hellisheiði shows numerous traces of past volcanic eruptions. The last is said to have taken place around 1000 years ago. The youngest lava poured out of a 6 km long crevice . However, the area is still volcanically active, as can easily be seen from the numerous steaming boreholes. Both the Hengill and the Bláfjöll mountain range with the Vífilsfell as the highest point (655 m) (on the picture behind the display board) are considered active volcanoes.
history
The Hellisheiði power plant went into operation in 2006 . From the planned output of 300 MW electrical and 400 MW thermal output, the planned 300 MW electrical output and 133 MW of thermal energy generation were fully expanded in October 2011. Fully expanded, it would be the second largest geothermal facility in the world and the largest in Iceland.
traffic
The Suðurlandsvegur leads across the Hellisheiði as the southern part of the Hringvegur . The area has always been a transit area. Traces of old ways can be found u. a. in the form of Vörður ( cairns ) in different places. However, the old paths did not follow the same route as today's Ringstrasse. The first road accessible by wagons was created in 1895.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from April 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Jan 2012
Coordinates: 64 ° 3 ′ 35.4 ″ N , 21 ° 31 ′ 20.6 ″ W.