This year, Costa Rica set an energy record. The Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) said in a statement that it achieved “99 per cent renewable electricity generation” and managed to power its grid on 100 percent renewable sources for 285 days.
Hydropower is the dominant source of electricity generation in the small Central American country, taking advantage of the country’s abundant river system and heavy tropical rainfalls. The rest comes from geothermal, wind, biomass and solar sources. ICE said it was ahead of renewable-energy targets it had set despite a year “that had been extremely dry.” Electricity division chief, Luis Pacheco, predicts an even better result in 2016 when a new US$2.3-billion hydroelectric plant comes online.
