Costa Rica runs on renewables for 75 days

• 9 years ago (2015-03-31)
• Junior Isles

Renewables 758

---

Costa Rica has managed a major clean energy milestone, meeting 100 per cent of its power needs with renewable sources for 75 straight days at the beginning of 2015.

The country’s zero-emission record was due largely to heavy rainfalls at four hydroelectric power facilities in the first quarter of 2015. In January, February and through March, there has been no need to burn fossil fuels to generate electricity.

In a press release the state-owned power supplier, Costa Rican Energy Institute (ICE), said “the year 2015 has been one of electricity totally friendly to the environment for Costa Rica”.

Costa Rica is powered primarily by hydropower – both pumped storage and run-of-the-river plants – and a mixture of geothermal, wind, biomass and solar energy.

Despite Costa Rica’s economy being based on less energy intensive themes like tourism and agriculture, it has still done a remarkable job in developing its energy infrastructure - which rates only behind Uruguay in South America, and with rates of household coverage of 99.4 per cent at some of the local region’s lowest prices.