The National Power and Light Company (CNFL) plans to build a wind energy plant with the capacity to generate 850 kilowatts for 30,000 people living in the Central Valley, the daily La República reported Saturday.

The plant will be located in Santa Ana, west of San José, and will house 18 windmills to produce energy for 5,700 homes, CNFL director Marvin Céspedes told La República. The $21-million project will be financed by CNFL and the Central American Economic Integration Bank.

Companies have begun bidding on the project, and CNFL hopes to choose a company and send the contract to the Comptroller General’s Office within the next two months.

Wind energy plants are the ideal complements to hydroelectric plants, which produce most of Costa Rica’s energy, because their capacity increases during the summer, when river levels drop, Céspedes said.

Another advantage of wind energy is that it does not harm the environment with carbon dioxide emissions, unlike traditional thermal energy. Wind energy is also cheaper than thermal energy, considering the escalating price of fuel on the international market.

-Tico Times