Not everything at Lækur is about birds. The farm has made its own electricity since 1947 – long before the rest of the fjord was connected in 1962, and the stream that runs past the colony still produces all the electricity we use – including the considerable amount needed to dry and process the eiderdown each autumn. It is about as environmentally friendly as eiderdown gets. The first plant, built in 1947, ran on direct current; in 1980 it was rebuilt for alternating current, and today it delivers about 30 kW.
In the summer of 2025 the dam needed attention, so the family spent a few weeks repairing it. Here is the intake and the weir where the water is taken in, high in the stream above the colony.
The damage was on the dam itself, so a bulldozer was brought in to rebuild the bank, and the intake – where the water is led into the pipe that runs down to the turbine – was checked over while the water was low. Since then a new generator has arrived and is waiting to be connected.
Follow us on Instagram – @zoffi_eiderdown – for the small moments from Lækur between diary entries: the first eiders in spring, the fjord in every weather, and the work in between.