The total investment cost for the first phase of the power plant is 97 MUSS, including research and drilling costs. Investment costs for the other phases are estimated.
Hitaveita Reykjavikur has financed the whole project from its own funds without any borrowing.
If one assumes that the first phase of the power plant will be operated for base load with annual operation of 8000 h, real interest rate of 7%, depreciation period of 25 years, annual operation costs of 2% of the capital investment and interest on capital during the construction period included, then the energy price from the phase 1 of the power plant at Nesjavellir will be 0.014 US$/kWh delivered to the storage tanks at Grafarholt. This is slightly higher compared to the current consumer price of heat from Hitaveita Reykjavikur, which is 0.013 US$/kWh.
The energy price from Nesjavellir has been calculated with the addition of phase 2 of power station I. For the same conditions as above, apart from the operation time, which is expected to be 7000 h/yr. on average, the energy price will be 0.008 US$/kWh. The buildings and the pipes of phase 1 are ready to accommodate the later phases. This explains the great drop in energy price with further development of the plant. The most important fact is that the main pipeline is designed for a power plant of 300-400 MWt, depending on the temperature of the produced district heating water.
In addition to the first two phases of the power plant (200 MWt), it is possible to generate 30-37 M We of electricity for the national grid. The investment cost for a 30 MWe power plant is estimated at 15 MUSS. The production cost would be 0.008 US$/kWhe for 7000 h annual operation time. This is considerably lower than for new hydropower stations (currently 0.018 US$/kWhe) in Iceland.