Electricity on the Faroe Islands comes from several different renewable energy sources. Hydroelectric power plants are one of them.

There are six hydroelectric power plants on the islands: three of them are located at the village of Vestmanna on the island of Streymoy, one is located near the village of Eiði on Eysteroy, one on Suðeroy, and one on the island of Borðoy. Five of the plants are connected to the main electrical grid on the Faroe Islands, while the Botnur plant on Suðeroy only serves that one island.

The Botnur plant was the first hydroelectric power plant that was built on the Faroes. It is still running and has two turbines, a 1.1 MW and a 2.2 MW.

The six hydroelectric power plants are owned by the Faroese power company SEV. The power plants produce 40 % of SEV’s total electricity production.

Additionally, a central focus area for decarbonizing the electricity production on the Faroe Islands is to store energy through a “pump to storage system”, while pumping water from the mountain to another dam.

The storage system is using extra energy from wind turbines in the form of hydroelectric energy. In order to prevent electrical failures from windmills, the new system will work to establish the necessary back-up.  

Keywords: hydropower, electricity, renewable energy, energy storage, windmills, power plants, Faroe Islands