A shallow (approximate to 200 m) geothermal energy system is examined in the Faroe Islands, a 60-million-year-old volcanic archipelago in the Northeast Atlantic. The geothermal water has a heating capacity of approximately 150 individual households and consists of meteoric water approximately 3 years old. Water temperatures as high as 27 degrees C in artesian wells are explained by a topography-driven vertical convection. The water flows into the boreholes from the north-northwest through fractures and flow tops and bases in the basalt exposed in surrounding high terrains. Of six influx zones, three are water carrying fractures that strike N-S and dip E.