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Energy in the Faroe Islands

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Energy in the Faroe Islands is produced primarily from imported fossil fuels, with further contributions from hydro and wind power. Oil products are the main energy source, mainly consumed by fishing vessels and sea transport. Electricity is produced by oil, hydropower and wind farms, mainly by SEV, which is owned by all the municipalities of the Faroe Islands.[1] The Faroe Islands are not connected by power lines with continental Europe, and thus the archipelago cannot import or export electricity.

Overview

Per capita annual consumption of primary energy in the Faroe Islands was 67 MWh in 2011, almost 60% above the comparable consumption in continental Denmark.[2][3]

Electricity

The 13 MW Vágsverkið SEV oil powerplant in Vágur (2013)

After taking a dip in the early 1990s the electricity production in the Faroe Islands has steadily been on the rise since then, going from 174 GWh in 1995 to 434 GWh in 2022, mostly from oil and hydropower.[4][5] The energy sector employed 154 people or 0.6% of the islands' total workforce as of November 2015.[6]

The islands have 4 diesel plants (around 100 MW[7][8][9][10] and supplying district heating),[11] 6 hydroelectric plants at 37 MW,[12][13] and 43 MW in several wind power plants with a capacity factor above 40%.[14] In 2022, the main grid had 50 days where more than 80% of the power was renewable.[4]

The municipality-owned company SEV is the main electricity supplier in the Faroe Islands with 90% of the total production, and private producers supplying the rest.[15][16][4]

Windpower and batteries

The 12 MW Húsahagi wind farm in 2019

Wind power was introduced in 1993, producing as little as 423 MWh at first, but rising to 90 GWh by 2022.[4] In 2014, the DKK 180 million 12 MW Húsahagi wind farm with Enercon 900 kW turbines[17] became operational near Torshavn and increased wind capacity from 6.6 to 18.6MW; this decreased oil consumption by 8,000 ton (approximately 4M€) per year.[14]

Adjacent to Húsahagi is the 25 MW Gellingakletti wind farm with 6 Vestas 4.2 MW V117 wind turbines, which started in December 2022, producing 100 GWh/year[18][19] at DKK 0.218 per kWh.[20] The difference between supply and demand was a source of conflict.[21][22]

Also adjacent to Húsahagi and Gellingakletti is the Flatnahagan wind farm with 6 Enercon turbines, scheduled at 66 GWh per year when ready.[23][19]

A €2 million 2.3MW[24] 700kWh lithium-ion battery at Húsahagi[25][26] became operational in 2016, stabilizing the wind power output,[27][28] and a further 12.5 MWh battery with a 15 MVAr syncron compensator is underway at the Sund powerplant.[29][19] Wind power is expected to save consumers DKK 57 million.[30]

Plans

Six Enercon E82/3MW wind turbines (18MW combined) are to be installed at Eiði, at a cost of DKK 0.239 per kWh.[31][32]

Planners also consider converting the existing hydropower[33] to pumped-storage hydroelectricity,[17] as rain and wind are high in winter and low in summer.[34] Tidal power,[35][36] offshore wind power[37][38] and thermal energy storage solutions are also being considered,[39] as the islands have a goal of 100% green electricity production by 2030.[17][40][41] This occasionally happens when rain and wind matches demand, and the diesel power plants are turned off.[42]

Transmission

The main electricity grid on the Faroe Islands[43] has the highest voltage of 60 kiloVolt, of which there is 90 km overhead wire and 6 km cable.[44][45][46] The 20kV system is 460 km and reaches most towns in the main islands,[47] whereas the 10 kV system covers the connected outlying islands, and Torshavn.[48][49] Due to extreme weather conditions and its lack of interconnections, the Faroe Islands experience one to three total blackouts annually, a ratio higher than that of continental Europe.[50] Most of the powerlines have therefore been buried underground as cables for better protection, improving grid stability.[51][52] When SEV detects grid issues, automatic demand response at large consumers reduce consumption to increase grid stability.[53]

Consumption

Demand (and thus, production) is up to 55 MW in 2019 (record was 62 MW in November 2019),[13] up from 40 MW at daytime peak previously (nighttime low is 15 MW).[54]

There are several 50 kW electric vehicle charging stations on the islands, and a few 150 kW chargers.[55][56][57][58]

Self-contained islands

The 3.3 MW hydro Botnur power plant on Suðuroy was built in 1921.
External image
image icon Sumba solar diagrams

Suðuroy has its own grid[43] with 20[47] and 10 kV.[48] This grid is powered by the 13 MW diesel at Vágur,[59][60] the 2 MW diesel at Trongisvágur,[61] 6.3 MW wind at Porkeri and the 3.3 MW hydro Botnur power plant.

The Faroe Islands' first solar park was installed with 250 kW capacity in Sumba in late 2019, expected to produce 160 MWh/year (i.e. a capacity factor of 7.3% and equivalent to 35 tons of oil), from diffuse light for 1,000 hours per year; mainly in the summer when rain and wind are low.[62][63][64][65] For the month of January 2020, the solar plant produced 672 kWh,[66] and 35.8 MWh in June 2023.[67]

Seven Enercon wind turbines at a combined 6.3 MW were installed at Porkeri Mountains in 2020.[68] Production is expected to be 20 GWh per year, reducing oil consumption by 4,300 tonnes.[69][70] For the month of October 2022, the wind turbines supplied 60% of the power. Combined with the Botni hydroplant, they supplied 84% while the oil motors supplied the remaining 16%.[71] In 2022, the Suðuroy grid had 56 days with 100% renewable power.[4] A syncron compensator started in late 2022, and 6.25 MW / 7.5 MWh grid battery started in early 2023, increasing grid stability and utilisation of wind turbines.[72][73]

Like Suðuroy, the islands of Fugloy, Hestur, Mykines, Skúvoy and Stóra Dímun are also not part of the main grid or connected to other islands. They are each electrified through their own separate fossil fuel powerplants.[43][50]

Statistics

External image
image icon Diagrams of grid production

In 2020, SEV spent DKK 165 million on fuel oil.[74] In 2018 the main electricity was 352 GWh, with 51.2% from oil engines, 30.7% from hydropower, and 18.1% from wind.[75][76][9][41]

In 2014 50.8% of the electricity production of SEV in the Faroe Islands came from green energy like hydro (mostly Eiði and Vestmanna)[43] and wind, while 49.2% was produced by the thermal power plants, which was 12.4% less than in 2013.[77]

  • fossil fuel: 49.2%
  • hydro: 39.5%
  • wind: 11.3%% (2014)

Total annual production: 305.4 GWh (2014) of which the production of thermal, hydropower and wind power was:

  • Thermal: 150,2 GWh
  • Hydropower: 120,7 GWh
  • Wind: 34,5 GWh

The main source is imported oil, costing DKK 0.70-0.80 per KWh. Wind power costs DKK 0.52/kWh as most of it will go unused until pumped-storage is installed to store it. If all wind power is then used, it would cost DKK 0.23/kWh.[22] Power prices increased from 0.64 per kWh in 2007, to DKK 1.31 per kWh in 2019.[78][79]

Oil consumption

Fishing vessels are the main consumer of oil in the Faroe Islands.

Oil consumption peaked at over 300,000 tonnes in 2020, at a value of DKK 1 billion.[80] Of this, 30% was for fishing vessels.[81] In 2014, 217,547 tonnes of oil products were consumed in the Faroe Islands.[82] Of these, 31.58% was consumed by fishing vessels, 14.73% was used by SEV for electricity production, 23.23% was consumed in air, sea or land transport, 9.6% was used in the industry, and the rest was used by public or private buildings.[83]

Oil and gas exploration has been taking place around the Faroe Islands since 2001, with the expectation that significant oil reserves will be found.[84]

There are coal reserves on Suðuroy, which were considered for energy production.[16] The reserves are between 10 and 15 million tonnes and they could replace oil in the Sund power-station for 100 years.[16][43]

Government energy policy

The Faroe Islands have set a goal of producing their entire electrical energy needs from renewable energy sources by 2030.[40][85] Since energy consumption has been rising steadily during the last few decades,[5] the Ministry of Trade and Industry has conducted a study for the future development of electricity production projects.[16] Apart from the development of new hydropower plants and wind farms, the study proposes the investigation of the possibility to produce electricity from LNG and biogas.[16] The University of the Faroe Islands has undertaken research into the feasibility of tidal power at several sites which have a high energy potential,[86] leading the Ministry of Trade and Industry to consider tidal power as a possibility.[16] The privatisation of electricity production was not promoted, although consideration was given to introducing competition and transparency into electricity production.[16][43]

See also

References

  1. ^ Djurhuus, Høgni; Mohr, Bjarni (17 October 2016). "Ikki umrøtt málið". Kringvarp Føroya. Retrieved 27 November 2016.
  2. ^ "Total Primary Energy Consumption per Capita, Faroe Islands, Annual". Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  3. ^ "Total Primary Energy Consumption per Capita, Denmark, Annual". Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  4. ^ a b c d e "2022 - A record year". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). 20 January 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Electricity production, by hydro, wind and thermal in MWh (1990-2021)". Statistics Faroe Islands. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Faroe Islands in figures 2016" (PDF). Statistics Faroe Islands. 1 June 2016. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 September 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  7. ^ Thermal Power
  8. ^ "The Plant in Sund". SEV. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  9. ^ a b "Orkuverk". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). Archived from the original on 14 February 2021.
  10. ^ "Sundsverkið". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). Archived from the original on 14 February 2021.
  11. ^ "District heating now also covers west end of Tórshavn". Kringvarp Føroya. 13 September 2022.
  12. ^ Hydro electric power
  13. ^ a b "Royndarframleiðsla í nýggja partinum av Sundsverkinum". www.sev.fo. 2020-01-17.
  14. ^ a b Terji Nielsen. Wind energy in the Faroe Islands Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine page 19-21. SEV, 2015
  15. ^ "Faroese Energy – On the Sustainability Track". faroeislands.fo - The official gateway to the Faroe Islands. Archived from the original on 27 August 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  16. ^ a b c d e f g "Comprehensive Plan for Electric Energy in the Faroe Islands" (PDF). Ministry of Trade and Industry. 11 August 2011. Retrieved 19 March 2019.
  17. ^ a b c Green Progress
  18. ^ "Gellingarklettur: Framleiða líka nógv streym sum øll vatnorkan". www.in.fo (in Faroese). 2 December 2022.
  19. ^ a b c "Nr. 49 - Wind turbines at start turning". bladid.fo (in Faroese). 3 December 2022.
  20. ^ "Vindmyllurnar á Gellingarkletti klárar at framleiða streym". Kringvarp Føroya (in Faroese). 8 April 2021.
  21. ^ "Brúkarin sleppur at gjalda fyri meirframleiðslu hjá Vindrøkt". Kringvarp Føroya (in Faroese). 21 April 2022.
  22. ^ a b "Green energy going to waste". Kringvarp Føroya (in Faroese). 10 December 2021. Archived from the original on 26 December 2021.
  23. ^ Leo, Jens Hákun (2 October 2019). "P/F Magn gains license to build and operate Tórshavn-based windmill park". Local.fo.
  24. ^ "Faroe Islands to get Europe's first wind-connected battery storage system". Renew Economy. 15 April 2015.
  25. ^ "The Faroe Islands Are Getting Europe's First Lithium-Ion Battery Directly Supporting Wind". GTM. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  26. ^ Taming the wind (Video). SEV.fo.[dead link]
  27. ^ "Lithium-ion batteries can help to safeguard the grid". 8 November 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  28. ^ The Battery System in production (Video). SEV.fo. 31 May 2016.[dead link]
  29. ^ "One step closer to improved wind energy penetration". www.sev.fo. 28 March 2023.
  30. ^ "Landsmyndugleikarnir avlaga kappingina um vindorkuna". www.sev.fo. 20 June 2019.
  31. ^ "SEV setir vindmyllur upp á Eiði". www.sev.fo. 2 October 2019.
  32. ^ "SEV wins wind tender". www.sev.fo. 2 October 2019.
  33. ^ Bárður A. Niclasen. Vedvarende energi Archived 2015-12-08 at the Wayback Machine 2015
  34. ^ "Tangible plan for the green course". www.sev.fo. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 12 November 2017. Precipitation and wind speeds decrease as we enter the summer period + diagram
  35. ^ Tidal Energy on the Horizon
  36. ^ "Tidal energy project". www.sev.fo. 2019-08-22.
  37. ^ "Føroya fyrsta sjóvindmyllulund". www.sev.fo. 16 September 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020.
  38. ^ "Offshore wind power". www.sev.fo. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. 2025
  39. ^ Jannicke Nilsen (27 November 2015). "ENERGYNEST - THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE - TES". Teknisk Ukeblad.
  40. ^ a b "100by2030". SEV. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  41. ^ a b Trondheim, Helma Maria; Niclasen, Barur A.; Nielsen, Terji; Silva, Filipe Faria Da; Bak, Claus Leth (2021). "100% Sustainable Electricity in the Faroe Islands: Expansion Planning Through Economic Optimization". IEEE Open Access Journal of Power and Energy. 8: 23–34. doi:10.1109/OAJPE.2021.3051917. The generation capacity is 102 MW of thermal power using fuel oil (FO) and gas oil (GO), 41 MW of hydro power (HP) with reservoirs, 18 MW of wind power (WP), 0.25 MW of photovoltaic (PV) power and 1.5 MW of biogas (BG) power. 42 MW of new WP and a pilot project with 0.2 MW of tidal power (TP) are committed. The generation in 2019 was 387 GWh of which 14% was wind energy and 27% hydro. Demand ranges between 22 MW and 60 MW.
  42. ^ "Green Energy September". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). 7 October 2022.
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  44. ^ "The 60 kV Power Supply System". SEV. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  45. ^ 60kV map
  46. ^ "Distribution Units". SEV. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  47. ^ a b "The 20 kV Power Supply System". SEV. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  48. ^ a b "The 10 kV Power Supply System". SEV. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  49. ^ 10 kV map
  50. ^ a b Birke, Anders (28 May 2015). "The Faroe Islands - Solutions for integrating a large share of renewables" (PDF). European Commission. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  51. ^ "The majority of the power grid is now underground". www.sev.fo. 24 March 2014. Retrieved 12 November 2017.
  52. ^ "Netið". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). Archived from the original on 4 February 2021.
  53. ^ "Power Hub a Success". SEV. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 25 December 2017.
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  55. ^ "Charging stations". elbil.fo.
  56. ^ "Skálatrøð Tórshavn Opladningsplads". 22 June 2017. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  57. ^ "Quick Charge stations in Faroe Islands". SEV.fo. 12 July 2016. Archived from the original on 22 September 2020. Retrieved 2019-03-19.
  58. ^ "Greening the transportation on the Faroe Islands". Nordregio projects. 3 December 2019.
  59. ^ "Vágsverkið". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). Archived from the original on 14 February 2021.
  60. ^ "The Plant in Vágur". SEV. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  61. ^ "The Plant in Trongisvágur". SEV. Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  62. ^ "Elfelagið SEV - Sólorka í Sumba". www.sev.fo. 31 October 2019.
  63. ^ "One step closer to solar power in Sumba". www.sev.fo. 2019-06-25.
  64. ^ "First field solar PV plant in the Faroes inaugurated". www.sev.fo. 3 December 2019.
  65. ^ "Sólorka". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). Archived from the original on 9 February 2021.
  66. ^ "Grønur januar". www.sev.fo. 5 February 2020.
  67. ^ "A New High in Solar Power Production". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). 8 August 2023.
  68. ^ "Vindmyllulund í Porkerishaganum". www.sev.fo (in Faroese).
  69. ^ "Skjøtil settur á vindmyllulund í Porkerishaganum". www.sev.fo. 13 January 2020.
  70. ^ "Porkeri Wind Farm taking shape". www.sev.fo. 10 August 2020.
  71. ^ "Suðuroy reached 84% green energy production in October". Kringvarp Føroya (in Faroese). 7 November 2022.
  72. ^ Murray, Cameron (6 March 2023). "Hitachi Energy Faroe Islands BESS project doubles wind farm's utilisation". Energy Storage News.
  73. ^ "In the initial half of 2023, 56% of Suðuroy's power consumption was sourced from renewable resources". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). 8 July 2023.
  74. ^ "Satisfactory result for 2020". www.sev.fo. 23 April 2021.
  75. ^ "Green electrical power production almost 49% in 2018". www.sev.fo. 2019-02-08. Archived from the original on 27 October 2020.
  76. ^ "The Power Supply System 2019". www.sev.fo (in Faroese).
  77. ^ "SEV - Framleiðsluroknskapur 2014 Production Accounts 2014" (PDF) (in Faroese and English). SEV. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 May 2016. Retrieved 25 September 2015.
  78. ^ Hermansdóttir Eidesgaard, Marin (16 January 2020). "High electricity prices "an obstacle for industry"". Kringvarp Føroya (in Faroese).
  79. ^ "Increase in electricity prices". www.sev.fo (in Faroese). 16 January 2023.
  80. ^ Jensen, Frants; Dalsgaard, Marjun (15 March 2021). "Sixty new wind turbines in the next decade". Kringvarp Føroya. Archived from the original on 15 March 2021.
  81. ^ "Oil consumption peaked last year". Kringvarp Føroya. 22 March 2021.
  82. ^ "Consumption of oil in tonnes, total 1992-2017". Statistics Faroe Islands. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  83. ^ "Consumption of oil in tonnes by consumer groups 1992-2017". Statistics Faroe Islands. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  84. ^ Topdahl, Rolv Christian (24 August 2012). "Oil can turn the Faroe Islands into the new Kuwait". Aftenbladet. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  85. ^ Deign, Jason (24 April 2015). "The Faroe Islands Are Getting Europe's First Lithium-Ion Battery Directly Supporting Wind". Greentech Media. Retrieved 22 February 2016.
  86. ^ Simonsen, Knud; Niclasen, Bárður (1 May 2011). "On the energy potential in the tidal streams on the Faroe Shelf" (PDF). University of the Faroe Islands. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-11-09. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
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