Foreign companies with strong interest in producing green hydrogen in Costa Rica

This Presidency of the Republic release was published using machine translation.

Saint Joseph. At least three foreign companies informed the Government of the Republic of their interest in building plants to produce green hydrogen with renewable electricity from the Costa Rican public network.

In addition to the enabling conditions promoted by the Government to encourage the green hydrogen economy -framed in Directive 002-MINAE of May 2018 and Decree 43366-MINAE of 2021- foreign companies have been attracted by the formation of the matrix electricity, which is a potential advantage for sustainable businesses.

Since the 1990s, Costa Rica has exceeded 90% of electricity production with clean resources, and between 2015 and 2022, it accumulates 98% of renewable generation with its five sources: water, geothermal, wind, biomass and sun.

“Costa Rica has the conditions to lead the development of green hydrogen. The actions that we have taken as a government have attracted the attention of companies to make these developments. We hope that these investments and the generation of jobs will soon materialize, which are part of our decarbonization plan,” said the President of the Republic, Carlos Alvarado.

Among the actions undertaken by the present administration for the development of this industry, are the approval of the Policy for the use of the surpluses of the National Electric System, the joint construction of the National Hydrogen Strategy and the recent empowerment of ICE by ARESEP of the Direct Users rate (T-UD) for companies that eventually start the commercial production of hydrogen with national electricity.

In addition to being aligned with environmental policy and the National Decarbonization Plan 2018-2050, the generation of green hydrogen is an activity that encourages the installation of a new industry, promoting economic reactivation and linkages.

Green hydrogen is a versatile energy alternative that is obtained from the electrolysis of water – a process to separate the molecule into hydrogen and oxygen, applying energy from renewable sources and is used in transport and industry.

solid process. Andrea Meza, Minister of Environment and Energy pointed out that "in order to consolidate the process of change towards a decarbonized economy that includes the use of hydrogen, we are working on the establishment of its enabling conditions that include the policy, already published, for the use of of the surpluses of the SEN for the development of a green hydrogen economy as well as the joint construction of a National Hydrogen Strategy that unifies the different initiatives of the sectors involved in a country vision”.

The process will have the participation of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE) as a technical entity, which will provide feedback to the interested parties on the conditions and administration of the National Electricity System (SEN).

Irene Cañas, executive president of ICE, stated that “the Institute will dialogue, as a technical entity, with all companies interested in the commercial production of green hydrogen. We are an ally of the Executive Power and we will help create conditions for the installation of these companies in the country”, he stressed.

These approaches with companies interested in investing in Costa Rica are the result of active participation by Costa Rican embassies in various countries that have shown interest in establishing commercial links with Costa Rica due to the conditions it presents and the characteristics of its country brand. .

Rates. The Regulatory Authority for Public Services (ARESEP) established for the first time the authorization for the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) of the Direct Users (T-UD) and high voltage rate, to apply it to companies interested in the development of a green hydrogen economy in Costa Rica.

Electric rates for hydrogen production will be available as of April 1, 2022, which correspond to the generation service stage without including the cost of high voltage transmission. This rate has prices of 3.9 ¢/US$ for night periods and 5.5 ¢/US$ for peak periods for each KWh of energy consumed.

The measure is part of the public policies issued by the Executive Power through Decree No. 43366 called: "Officialization of the Policy for the Use of Surplus Resources in the National Electric System for the Development of a Green Hydrogen Economy".