Private Power Must Be Green

ICE, the state-owned power company, has sent a clear message to private generating companies who sell ICE electricity: they must fit the renewable energy matrix set up for this country.

The power company, anticipating a new law allowing ICE to buy power from private sources, which has not yet passed the Legislative Assembly, is giving fair warning -- no diesel power generators or other "non-green" machines.

At present, 76% of the power generated in this country comes from hydroelectric dams that are too expensive for private companies to finance at current electrical rates. But other sources are in place.

So-called "wind farms," with clusters of towers supporting three-blade fans accounts for 4% with foreign investment interest  growing briskly. Another 12% comes from geothermal activity from "wells" drilled into the flanks of active volcanoes.

Only 1% is generated by biomass, despite the attractive possibility of using farm, dairy and fresh fruit processing waste for that purpose. (See previous article.)

As the business newspaper El Financiero points out, all generation of energy has its environmental impact and none is 100% clean. Burning methane gas from biomass "digestion" spews some smoke into the air, although it is nearly invisible to the eye, for example.

Geothermal wells using water pumped into underground sources of heat (from lava) to power steam generators brings up a certain amount of sulfur. Even dams cover natural areas of natural forest with their reservoirs, destroying animal habitats.

But environmental impact from such generation is minuscule compared with coal or petroleum. (Generating electricity from diesel power during peak demand during the dry season when reservoir levels are low is a bad habit ICE nearly abandoned two decades ago.)

Unfortunately, hydroelectric power is running out of room in this small country. Two dams ICE is depending on to increase generation by 10% by 2021, the Diquis and Reventazon, may be delayed due to the reservoirs encroaching on tribal lands and other factors.

It may well be that Costa Rica will look to privately-generated power to meet its energy needs more and more in the future.