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Costa Rica

Official Name:
Republic of Costa Rica

National Designated Entity

Type of organisation:
Government/Ministry
Name:
Ms. Andrea Meza Murillo
Position:
Director
Phone:
+506 2253 4298, +506 8882 0690

Energy profile

Type: 
Energy profile
Energy profile
Extent of network

Costa Rica’s 98.6% electrification rate is the highest in Central America, as is its per capita power consumption of 1,611 kWh/year, which is ahead of the Latin American average as well. On average, a middle-income Costa Rican family’s electric bill takes up 2% of its income—one of the lowest rates in the region, thanks to Costa Rica’s higher per capita income and lower power prices owing to the preponderance of hydropower in electricity generation.

Renewable energy potential

HydropowerWhile Costa Rica has used 1271 MW of its hydropower resources, there are 4531 MW more that could be exploited. Hydropower dams are the leading source of electricity in the country, accounting for 78% of electric power, and making Costa Rica the region's leading producer of clean energy.Geothermal Costa Rica has installed 145 MW of geothermal capacity and has the potential for 90 MW more.SolarIn Costa Rica, depending on the place, this country receives energy equivalent to 1300–1700 kW h/m2 yr. Taking 1500 kW h as an average, the total energy received on the Costa Rica terrain (50,000 km2) in 1 year will be 75,000 TWh, whereas the total energy consumed is about 28 TW h (103,350 TJ), that means the solar potential on Costa Rica is about 2600 times the energy consume in 1 year. The use of solar energy is still negligible, but the aim is for alternative power sources to expand significantly over the next decade.WindThere are 600 MW of unused wind potential. In 2010, a 49.5MW wind farm was inaugurated by the German project developer JUWI as part of the government’s goal to derive all of its energy from RES. The wind turbines installed in the Guanacaste region by JUWI and its partners GDF Suez Energy Central America, a subsidiary of the French-Belgian GDF Suez Group, and the local company BC y Asociados, will contribute to the country’s renewable energy objective. The 49.5 MW Guanacaste wind farm was completed in 2009 and consists of 55 E-44 wind turbines from German manufacturer Enercon and produces around 240 million KWh of electric energy per year.

Energy framework

National Strategy for De-carbonization of the Economy/ Stimuli for Renewable EnergiesThe country is already working on specific agendas to stimulate the use of RES, which is principally as a result of the rise in oil prices in the past, a situation which threatens to repeat itself. In that sense, the national government has initiated the so-called National Strategy for De-carbonization of the Economy, where the use of renewable energy from hydroelectric resources, geothermal, eolic, solar and biomass is promoted. The objective is to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels and at the same time promote the electrification of land transportation methods, modernization of vehicular transportation of persons and goods, regionalization of transportation, reinforce the use of multimodal transportation and energy efficiency policies in the industry and general consumption.

Source
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  • Type: 
    Publication
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    The goal of this report is to provide an understanding of global non-ferrous metal scrap flows in the context of non-ferrous industry developments over the 2000 to 2011 period. The focus of this study is on copper and aluminium as the two largest non-ferrous metals in terms of both material tonnages and market value. The report consists of four chapters. The first chapter, presented here, provides a brief backdrop to the analysis on non-ferrous scrap flows. It outlines growth in metal demand and the underlying reasons for this growth.

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    The Global Atlas is the comprehensive information platform on the potential of renewable energy. It provides resource maps from leading technical institutes worldwide and tools for evaluating the technical potential of renewable energies. It can function as a catalyst for policy development and energy planning, and can support investors in entering renewable energy markets.

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    This report provides historical and projected estimates of emissions of non-carbon-dioxide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from anthropogenic sources. It provides a consistent and comprehensive estimate for 92 individual countries and 8 regions. The analysis provides information that can be used to understand national contributions of GHG emissions, historical progress on reductions and mitigation opportunities. Although this document is being published by the U.S.

  • Type: 
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    Freely available climate and climate-related data is essential to catalyze the changes in policies, investments and technologies that will be needed if we are to move towards a climate-smart future. The Climate Change Knowledge Portal is a central hub of information, data and reports about climate change around the world. With this portal you can query, map, compare, chart and summarize key climate and climate-related information. Open data: all of the climate data featured on the Climate Change Knowledge Portal has been published as open data resources.

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    This issue of ETFRN News contains more than 20 wide-ranging articles on forests and climate change. The topics covered include: (1) the international policies on tropical forests under the UNFCCC and the Kyoto Protocol; (2) country-level REDD experiences; (3) different forest management practices; (4) various climate change adaptation strategies for forest sector; (5) landscape restoration practices and (6) various forest carbon business approaches.

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    Forests play an important role in both adaptation and mitigation, as they provide local ecosystem services relevant for adaptation as well as the global ecosystem service of carbon sequestration, relevant for mitigation. Consequently, just as there are synergies and trade-offs between global and local ecosystem services, there are synergies and trade-offs between mitigation and adaptation: mitigation projects can facilitate or hinder local people"s efforts to adapt to climate change, and adaptation projects can affect ecosystems and their potential to sequester carbon.

  • Type: 
    Organisation
    Country of registration:
    Germany
    Relation to CTCN:
    Network Member

    Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy  is a research and academic organization established in 1991 with the mission to undertake research and develops models, strategies and instruments for transitions to a sustainable development at local, national and international level. Sustainability research at the Wuppertal Institute focuses on the resources, climate and energy related challenges and their relation to economy and society. Special emphasis is put on analysing and stimulating innovations that decouple economic growth and wealth from natural resource use. 

  • Type: 
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    Israel
    Relation to CTCN:
    Network Member

    Natural Resources and Environmental Research Center (NRERC), University of Haifa is a resaerch and academic institution established in 1985  with the mission to  carry out interdisciplinary research in the area of natural resource and environmental resource management, pioneering this academic research field in Israel. NRERC is chosen, by the Israeli Ministry of Environmental Protection, to lead "The Israeli Center for Climate Change" (ICCIC).

  • Type: 
    Organisation
    Country of registration:
    Mexico
    Relation to CTCN:
    Network Member

    ENERGIAS RENOVABLES EXACTA S DE RL  DE CV is a private sector turnkey renewable energy technology provider established in 2009 with the mission to offer optimal solutions to the technological needs of stakeholders focusing on renewable energy and sustainability. The company offer equipment and products, consulting, design, installation, operation and maintenance in the areas of sustainability and renewable energies.

  • Type: 
    Organisation
    Country of registration:
    Germany
    Relation to CTCN:
    Network Member
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    Green Cooling Initiative (GCI) is a network of Companies, Organisations, and Government Institutions aiming at a reduction of emissions from the cooling sectors established by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in 2014 and its initial funding will run to 30th of April 2017. The aim of GCI is to establish a global Green Cooling Network, which will accelerate the transfer of environmentally friendly technologies in the refrigeration and air conditioning sectors to and within developing countries.