For Klara Halldórsdóttir, the volcano that has been active in southwest Iceland for the past year is a blend of awe and destruction. She has trekked to its crater to witness the dramatic eruptions and the cooled lava flows extending toward Grindavik, her lifelong home. Yet, this volcano has also displaced her from that home.
In November, while at the beach with her dogs, a series of earthquakes struck, signaling an impending eruption. Klara’s family quickly packed and joined a line of cars fleeing the town. It felt “like a terrible movie,” she recalled, unsure if they would ever return. Nearly a year later, only a small fraction of Grindavik’s 3,600 residents have made their way back.
The last significant volcanic activity on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula occurred eight centuries ago, during the Viking era. Today, this area, close to the capital Reykjavik, is among the country’s most populated.
Icelanders like Klara maintain a complex relationship with volcanoes. While these natural phenomena can devastate — destroying homes and disrupting infrastructure — they also provide abundant clean energy essential to daily life. Iceland itself was formed by volcanic activity, with its unique geology resulting from the movement of tectonic plates that cause earthquakes and eruptions.
Since December 2023, the Reykjanes Peninsula has experienced a series of earthquakes and eruptions. The initial eruption in December created a fissure over two miles long, launching lava high into the air. Following eruptions have engulfed homes, threatened vital power stations, and turned Grindavik into a ghost town. The lava flows have come perilously close to the popular Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, leading to multiple evacuations and temporary closures.
Iceland has a history of volcanic eruptions, averaging one every five years, mostly in uninhabited regions. However, the recent eruptions are violent and pose significant risks, potentially lasting for centuries.
Amidst this upheaval, an ambitious project is taking shape at the Krafla volcanic caldera, located hundreds of miles northeast. Here, experts are planning to drill directly into a magma chamber, a venture that could unlock new forms of clean energy.
The Quest for New Geothermal Energy
In 2009, Bjarni Pálsson, then an engineer for Iceland’s national power company, Landsvirkjun, encountered a breakthrough while working on a geothermal project at Krafla. After struggling to drill nearly three miles into the ground, they finally broke through to find glass chips — evidence of a magma chamber. This discovery was significant, as these reservoirs of molten rock are typically much deeper and harder to locate.
Fifteen years later, Pálsson returns to Krafla, equipped with improved technology and insights. The team’s goal is to convert the extreme heat and pressure of magma into a new form of geothermal energy, potentially transforming the global energy landscape as reliance on fossil fuels declines.
“This has never been done before,” noted Hjalti Páll Ingólfsson, director of the Geothermal Research Cluster overseeing the project. He likens its scope to that of the James Webb Space Telescope, which is revolutionizing our understanding of the universe.
If successful, the project could impact the lives of the estimated 800 million people living near active volcanoes worldwide. “We spend trillions exploring distant planets but invest far less in understanding our own,” Ingólfsson remarked.
Krafla offers a unique environment for studying volcanoes, being one of the hottest geothermal fields globally, with a power plant and paved roads conveniently situated atop a volcano.
Drilling into magma, which can reach temperatures of 1,800°F (around 1,000°C), poses considerable challenges. Yet, the urgency to innovate grows as fossil fuel pollution accelerates climate change.
The first borehole is expected to be completed by 2027, marking the first instance of sensors being placed directly in a magma chamber. This research aims to deepen understanding of magma behavior and help predict future eruptions.
Sara Barsotti, volcanic hazards coordinator at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, emphasizes that volcanoes remain largely mysterious. “We have never had a way to observe volcanic systems directly,” she said.
If the initial drilling succeeds, the team will proceed with a second borehole, anticipated to be completed by 2029. This next phase could harness magma’s extreme heat to generate a new kind of geothermal energy, vastly more powerful than conventional methods.
Transforming Iceland’s Energy Landscape
Geothermal energy has already significantly transformed Iceland, which relied on oil and coal just 80 years ago. Today, over 90% of homes are heated using geothermal resources, elevating the nation from one of Europe’s poorest to one of its wealthiest.
Harnessing magma’s heat at the source would enhance geothermal energy’s potential dramatically. Instead of using a mix of water and steam from traditional geothermal methods, this approach would produce superheated steam with much higher energy density.
Data from the initial discovery of the magma chamber indicated that the energy produced at these extreme temperatures could be ten times greater than that of conventional geothermal systems, which typically access temperatures between 200°F to 300°F.
While drilling for magma energy may be more costly — estimated to require two or three times the investment compared to standard wells — the significantly reduced number of wells needed could offset expenses. The 18 traditional boreholes at Krafla, which provide power for about 30,000 homes, could potentially be replaced by just two magma boreholes.
The implications of such advancements could extend well beyond Iceland. Many geothermal sites would need to drill deeper to reach magma, which could increase costs, cautioned Jefferson Tester, a sustainable energy systems professor at Cornell. However, if the power and efficiency of magma geothermal energy prove viable, the economic benefits may justify the investment.
The road ahead is not without challenges. Creating boreholes that can endure extreme heat and pressure over decades is no small feat. Stability is crucial for long-term energy production.
Understanding how magma remains hot at shallow depths is another key question. Theories suggest the magma chamber’s size might insulate it from the cooling effects of surrounding rock, or it could be heated by unknown geological processes.
What is evident, according to Ingólfsson, is that if they can successfully tap into this magma resource, the potential for clean energy is vast. “Basically, the potential is limitless.”
