The ICE, CNFL and CoopeSantos have announced plans that will double Costa Rica’s production of electricity using wind farms within the next 3 years. Currently Costa Rica has 4 farms near Tilaran that have a production capacity of 71 megawatts.

ICE is opening a bidding process for an additional 60 MW plant to come online in 2008, the CNFL is making plans for a 15 MW plant near Santa Ana and Coope Santos is exploring 2 projects.

Costa Rica has the largest wind power capacity in Central America and ranks 16th in the world in Kilowatts per capita. Wind power is ideal, since winds are stronger in summer when Costa Rica loses hydroelectric capacity due to less rainfall. In this way they will avoid running diesel plants in order to meet demand.

ICE estimates that Costa Rica has an Aeolic potential of 600 Mega Watts with 274 sites identified, including: Bagaces, Montes de Oro, San Ramón y Coronado. This is important because using wind power doesn’t require diverting rivers or deforestation, which many communities oppose as evidenced by the recent referendum in Turrialba.

Current Power Distribution and Costs
Today, 82% of Costa Rica’s energy is hydroelectric, 14% geothermal (steam power), 3% Aeolic (wind) and 1% thermal (Diesel plants).

Clean and CheapWind power is not only clean, it is cheaper than other kinds of power due to advances in the technology. The average cost per kilowatt hour is $0.041, compared to geothermal at $0.052 and hydroelectric at $0.056. Thermal energy is currently almost 10 times as expensive at $0.40 per kilowatt hour.

Baja inversión. El costo de inversión por cada kilovatio instalado de energía eólica es de $1.101, mientras que el de la energía hidroeléctrica es de $1.637, el de la geotérmica oscila entre los $2.500 y los $3.800 y el de la térmica es de $600. Así consta en el plan de expansión eléctrica del ICE.