Amid the tropical forests and volcanic Cordillera Central mountain range running through the country, Costa Rica has built one of the world’s most advanced energy models. It is here, in a nation with little more than five million inhabitants and an area the size of the two largest Italian islands combined, that one of the most radical turning points in the history of sustainability has taken place. According to official data from CENCE, the Centro Nacional de Control de Energía, over 98% of the nation’s energy consumption is now met by renewable sources. This result has been achieved thanks to a long-term approach capable of translating the natural wealth of the land into a modern, stable, and secure electricity system.
The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), which guides infrastructure development, has described this process as “a national commitment to energy autonomy and the protection of natural heritage”. This definition encapsulates the philosophy that has guided the country in recent decades, consisting of investments, planning, and widespread environmental awareness deeply embedded in society
The roots of the transformation. Costa Rica’s energy revolution is not the result of a single choice, but of a multi-faceted strategy developed over time. As early as the 1980s, while much of Central America was still reliant on fossil fuel imports, San José decided to make hydroelectric power a cornerstone of its energy independence. The dams and reservoirs built during those years guaranteed the country a solid foundation capable of supporting growing demand
and ensuring a continuous supply.
Over time, this hydroelectric backbone
was joined by other technologies. Geothermal energy, facilitated by the presence of active volcanoes, offered consistent, programmable power even during times of drought. Wind power, which was developed in hilly and coastal regions, helped to make the system more flexible. Finally, the solar power which sprang up in both industrial installations and in distributed generation, was the final piece of the puzzle. This diversification is what has allowed Costa Rica to achieve such high renewable energy values, operating for over 300 consecutive days without falling back on fossil fuels during certain periods.
The invisible infrastructure that holds the system together. Costa Rica’s energy story, however, exemplifies a fundamental principle: transition is based not only on production, but also and above all on the capacity of grids to safely manage a complex and continually evolving electricity system. The true strength of the Costa Rican model lies in the transmission grid and in the efforts of CENCE, the public body responsible for managing, planning, and operating the national electricity system, which works every day to coordinate a grid powered largely by renewable sources differing in nature, variability, and geographic distribution.
To achieve this, the country has invested in the digitisation of systems, in advanced systems for meteorological management and forecasting (sensors and software for data analysis), and in a transmission grid capable of transporting the energy produced in remote zones towards the urban centres. Constant monitoring, predictive demand analysis, and balancing programmable and non-programmable resources have paved the way for some of the highest service continuity standards on the American continent. This “silent” infrastructure, although it is almost invisible to the nation’s citizens, is key to enabling its sustainable transformation.
