Costa Rica maintains a high profile of renewable electricity generation despite the effects of El Niño

This ICE release was published using machine translation.

In 2023, Costa Rica maintained a high profile of renewability in the generation of its electricity, despite the effects of El Niño. According to data from the Operation and Control Division of the Electrical System (DOCSE) of ICE, 94.91% of the production of the National Electrical System (SEN) came from national clean sources.

Gross production accumulated 11,939.72 gigawatt hours (GWh) in 2023. Water – the main source and most affected by the dry conditions and the drop in flows – represented 69.74% of the electricity, while geothermal energy reached 12.39% and the wind 12.24%. Biomass and the sun added up to 0.53%.

Reventazón was the plant with the highest contribution last year. Between January and December, it generated 923.17 GWh; 7.73% of what was produced by the SEN. In Costa Rica there are more than 100 power plants, operated by ICE, CNFL, municipal companies, rural cooperatives and private generators.

In terms of meeting national demand, which closed at 12,291.12 GWh, the country covered its needs with 91.29% renewable energy. The calculation of this data involves the addition of imports and the subtraction of exports that Costa Rica executes in the Regional Electricity Market (MER).

It should be noted that, in 2023 and in full development of El Niño, ICE supplied 71% of the national demand (8,701.38 GWh) with its own resources, while the other generators supplied 29%. This represented an increase of 5% for the Institute compared to 2022, when it supplied 66%, and the other producers 34%.

“We reaffirm the Institution's commitment to the country's electricity supply. The efficient administration of the reservoirs, especially Arenal, was vital to maintaining the high renewability profile during last year. Since 2022 we have dosed the water resource so that El Niño has the least possible consequences on the System,” said Roberto Quirós, ICE Electricity Manager.

To guarantee supply, the Institute will continue to optimize the use of its reservoirs, it has agreements that cover 99% of the available private capacity and rented temporary backup plants. In addition, it promotes distributed generation and the integration of solar and wind plants, as well as the advancement of its own projects.