Costa Rica was placed as the country with the electricity matrix highest in renewable contribution among “the 43 most important economies in the world”, according to the International Competitiveness Index 2021 (ICI).
Costa Rica reached a cumulative 99.98% of renewable electricity generation last week with the five clean sources it uses, for which it will exceed 98% of clean production for the seventh consecutive year, an official source reported.
The Presidential House revealed that 2021 will become the year with the least use of thermal backup in the country since 1956, when the Colima Thermal Plant came into operation. Between January and December, the plants that use hydrocarbons have generated just 2.57 gigawatt hours of energy to complete the country’s demand. Therefore, the country reaches 99.98% of clean production.
Historical numbers
“The strength of our matrix allows us, even in the conditions of the pandemic, to achieve historical numbers, maintaining the quality and continuity of the service. Costa Rica is consolidating itself as a world leader in sustainable electricity production”, stated the Electricity Manager of the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), Luis Roberto Rodríguez.
For this year, the three main resources of the Costa Rican matrix are water, with a contribution of 74.12%; followed by geothermal (12.97%) and wind (12.33%). Biomass and the sun complete the country’s own sources, accumulating between them 0.56%. Thermal backup with fuels represents 0.02%.
Data from the authorities reveal that in 2015 Costa Rica reached 98.99% of renewable energy, in 2016 it accounted for 98.21%, in 2017 it was 99.67%, in 2018 it represented 98.60%, in 2019 registered 99.15%, in 2020 it added 99.79%, while as of December 14, 2021 it reached 99.98%.
