Costa Rica celebrates 300 days living alone with renewable energy

For the third consecutive year, Costa Rica covered its electricity consumption almost exclusively thanks to renewable sources. This is confirmed by the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE Group), the state company responsible for electricity and telecommunications services: data from the National Center for Energy Control clearly show that Costa Rica has been using clean energy for only 300 days. This figure is even better than in 2015 and 2016, years in which renewable energy had fed the country 299 and 271 days respectively.

A record that continues to surprise despite all the particularities of the case. The nation, in fact, has only 4.8 million inhabitants, which is just over half of the citizens of London, and the huge hydroelectric plants do most of the work. Today, 78.26% of the electricity used nationwide comes from water.

The combination also includes 10.29% of wind energy, 10.23% of geothermal energy and 0.84% ??of the solar energy and biomass. In other words, renewable sources meet 99.62% of the country’s electricity needs. While on the one hand, photovoltaic energy still has a marginal part, on the other hand wind energy is one of the sectors in full development in the country.

Obviously, size and the environment help the small South American country that is not willing to fall asleep on the laurels. The Government has set a clear objective for 2021: to become completely neutral in terms of carbon emissions. The plan also includes transportation. At the congress there are two legislative proposals for alternative mobility that, if approved, would introduce tax exemptions to the importation of electric cars, create a national network of charging stations and force the electrification of a part of the public car park.