Geothermal is an important element of Costa Rica’s renewable energy future

Costa Rica aims to become the first CO2 neutral nation by 2021.

“From January to October, we produced 98.7% of our electricity from renewable energy”, says Elbert Duran, communications director of the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE).

Next year, the country plans to achieve 100% green electricity. While hydropower has been the first source of electricity in Costa Rica since the 1980s, another pillar of Costa Rica’s energy supply is geothermal. The five plants of the Miravalles geothermal field are connected with 42 km of pipes that connect the turbines to the 25 producing wells, drilled more than 1600 meters deep. And Right next to the plant Miravalles III, 4300 photovoltaic panels glisten in the sun. On 22,000 m 2, their capacity is 1 MW.

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/

Source: http://www.treehugger.com/

The plants are all connected to the Energy Control Centre (Cence), located in San José, the capital. CE has launched the project of a seventh geothermal plant, scheduled in 2019 on the slopes of Rincon de la Vieja volcano, northwest of the country but without counting the cost of electricity produced from renewable energy still costs much more expensive than from fossil fuels.

To read more about geothermal power and Costa Rica’s renewable energy future, click here. 

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