Costa Rica powered solely by renewables so far this year
Parque Nacional Santa Rosa, Guanacaste, Costa Rica (source: flickr/ Lon&Queta, creative commons)
Francisco Rojas
18 Mar 2015
Fossil fuels for electricity generation this year have not been necessary and ICE forecasts for the coming months renewables will continue to occupy a prominent place in the electricity supply.
Excellent news from Costa Rica, where renewable energy has provided 100% of the electricity in the first 75 days a year, according to the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) in a recent statement. The lion’s share of this was due to hydro, following copious rain allowing an increase in electricity production. The remaining demand was covered by geothermal, wind, biomass and solar.
Bearing this in mind, the use of fossil fuels for electricity generation this year has not been necessary. ICE forecasts for the coming months renewables will continue to occupy a prominent place in the electricity supply.
In 2013, about 70 percent of the mix was covered by hydraulic power, 15 percent geothermal, about 5 per cent by wind, 0.8 percent cogeneration, 0.01 percent by solar and about 11.8 percent of non-renewable heat sources, according to a report by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC). Overall, renewables accounted for 88 percent of the electricity mix.
Source: PV Magazine
