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| Krafla power station under the stars, Iceland by Bastien Poux. |
Scientists will study the possibility of producing geothermal energy from magma for the first time, in a $100 million project in Iceland, which if successful could produce up to 10 times more energy than from a conventional well.
The magma project, called Krafla Magma Testbed, will involve drilling a hole 2.1 kilometers deep directly into a magma chamber below the Krafla volcano in northern Iceland.
The project is being coordinated by Iceland's Geothermal Research Group (GEORG) and the British Geological Survey, with the participation of 38 institutes and companies from 11 countries including the United States, Canada and Russia.
Producing geothermal energy from magma would enable Iceland to export more energy and could also revive a plan to build a power cable from Iceland to Britain to provide power to British homes, in what would be the world's longest power interconnector.