Costa Rica's renewable energy resources
Costa Rica is recognized for its commitment to renewable energy, historically transitioning from biomass to a diverse range of renewable sources, with hydropower currently constituting the majority of its energy supply. The nation boasts the highest electrification rate in Latin America at 99%, primarily due to its extensive hydropower infrastructure, which began with the first hydroelectric plant established in the late 19th century. In addition to hydropower, Costa Rica has developed wind energy and geothermal power, becoming a leader in installed wind energy capacity in the region. The country's energy policy has evolved, promoting the interconnection of electricity grids with Central American neighbors to enhance regional cooperation in renewable energy. With a goal to become the first carbon-neutral economy by 2021, Costa Rica continues to explore innovative measures to reduce carbon emissions, including incentives for agrofuels and potential carbon taxes. Despite heavy reliance on fossil fuel imports for diesel, the government remains focused on sustainability and reducing its dependency on non-renewable resources. Costa Rica's efforts highlight a dedication to ecological responsibility and serve as a model for sustainable energy development.
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Costa Rica's renewable energy resources
Official Name: Republic of Costa Rica.
Summary: Costa Rica lacks fossil fuel reserves; nevertheless, taking advantage of the important renewable energy resources in its territory, such as hydropower, wind, geothermal energy, and biomass, the country has a goal of becoming the first carbon-neutral economy worldwide by 2021.
Traditionally an agricultural country, Costa Rica’s main energy source until the end of the 19th century was biomass. In 1884, Guatemalan and Costa Rican businessmen put in service the first hydroelectric plant to supply electricity for street illumination in San José, the capital city. During the next decades, the electricity service was expanded to the other major cities of the country by Costa Rican and U.S. investors. However, in 1927 the New York–based Electric Bond and Share Company (EBSC) acquired the power utilities of the two country’s most important cities and was attempting to buy out a third one, the Compañía Nacional Hidroeléctrica (owned by Costa Rican businessmen), which would have led the EBSC to an absolute control of the Costa Rican electricity market.
However, that was perceived as a danger to the national sovereignty, so these acquisitions met with resistance from the worker movement and other political leaders. In 1928, the National Electricity System (SNE in Spanish) was created by Law 77, which also ordered the nationalization of the electricity sector. Still, for several reasons, Law 77 was not fully implemented until the 1940s.
In 1941, the Costa Rican government decreed the nationalization of the three power utilities EBSC controlled. Electric Light and Traction, the Compañía Nacional de Elecricidad, and the Compañía Nacional Hidroeléctrica were merged to form the Compañía Nacional de Fuerza y Luz (CNFL). As the power service was still deficient, the government created the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) as an autonomous state entity, which soon became the holding company of CNFL and the telecomunications company RACSA. Today, Costa Rica has the highest electrification rate in Latin America, 99 percent, most generated from hydropower.
Costa Rica imports 100 percent of its fossil fuel needs from Mexico and Venezuela. In 1980, these two countries signed the San José Agreement with the governments of various Caribbean and Central American nations, Costa Rica among them, to supply oil at discount prices. Moreover, since 2000, in addition to the San José Agreement, Costa Rica also takes part in the Caracas Agreement for Energy Cooperation, which provides an additional 8,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan oil at discount prices. In 2009, Costa Rica asked for admission to the Venezuelan initiative Petrocaribe; however, in 2010, the new Costa Rican government decided to freeze its candidacy, as its new policy aims at diminishing oil dependency.
During the 1990s, Costa Rica decided to become an ecological paragon worldwide. Thus, the first wind farm in Latin America was built and put in operation by private investors. Moreover, a geothermal power plant is also in operation. For the past decade, Costa Rica has had the highest installed capacity of wind energy in Latin America. However, the strong position of ICE in the power market, which by inertia has favored hydropower over other renewable energies, has resulted in wind energy installed capacity barely growing throughout the first decade of the 21st century.
Costa Rica, its Central American neighbors, Colombia, and Mexico have begun the interconnection of their respective electricity grids in order to create a united power market within the framework of the Proyecto Mesoamérica for the region’s energy infrastructure integration. In this plan, geothermal energy and other renewable energy sources are to play a key role.
In 2007, the Costa Rican government announced its intention of making Costa Rica the first carbon-neutral economy in the world. That means that by 2021, the Costa Rican economy should be releasing no more CO2 into the atmosphere than it is capable of sequestering or reabsorbing. In order to achieve this goal, the government is studying a series of measures to be taken, such as incentives for producing and using agrofuels, voluntary carbon fees, and carbon taxes for some activities. In 2015 it was reported that the Costa Rican government appeared to be distancing itself from its previous announcement, but in early 2017 the country reaffirmed its commitment to becoming carbon-neutral by 2021. As of 2017, most of Costa Rica's energy came from renewable sources, primarily hydropower. The only fossil fuel used in Costa Rica at that time was diesel.
Bibliography
Herro, Alana. “Costa Rica Aims to Become First ‘Carbon Neutral’ Country.” 2-http://www.worldwatch.org/node/4958.
Organización Latinoamericana de Energía. Energy Statistics Report 2009: Base Year 2008. http://www.olade.org/documentos2/InformeEnergetico2008/IEE-2008.pdf.
U.S. Energy Information Administration. “Country Analysis Brief: Costa Rica.” http://205.254.135.24/countries/country-data.cfm?fips=CS.