Reykjavik Energy has commissioned Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Balcke-Dürr, a German engineering company, to build five 45MW geothermal power plants in the suburbs of Reykjavik, the capital of Iceland.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries has previously received several orders to build geothermal plants in the country, and the latest brings the total number of such plants to fifteen, collectively providing 565MW of power once they are completed.

The five geothermal plants will be built in a geothermal field approximately 30km east of Reykjavik. The power plants are intended to provide electricity to new aluminium refineries that the Icelandic government is planning to invite to the area.

The steam turbines for the plants will be manufactured by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Nagasaki Shipyard and Machinery Works, generators will be made by Mitsubishi Electric Corporation, whilst Balcke-Dürr will fabricate cooling equipment.

Iceland generates nearly all its electricity from renewable energy and uses virtually no fossil fuels. The country generates 80 percent of its electricity by hydropower, and most of the remainder is produced by geothermal power.

The new plants are expected to be completed by February 2012. .