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Costa Rica

With a power score of 1.76, Costa Rica ranks number 58 among emerging markets and number 85 in the global power ranking.

  • Emerging markets
  • Latin America

1.76 / 5

Power score


-11 places

Global power rank change


2021
2022
2023
93
74
85

Overview

Costa Rica has a power score of 1.76, which puts it at rank 85 in the global power ranking, and rank 58 in the emerging markets power ranking. In comparison to 2021, Costa Rica has improved in the power rankings by 8 places, from rank 93, to rank 85.

At 1.76, the power score of Costa Rica is lower than the regional average of 1.81 in the Latin America region.

Regional power score comparison

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Costa Rica

Power

Power policy

Costa Rica implements policies in 4/6 power policy categories tracked by Climatescope, including Renewable energy target, Renewable energy auction, Feed-in Tariff, Net Metering, Import tax incentives, VAT incentives.

Power policies

Renewable energy target
Renewable energy auction
Feed-in Tariff
Net Metering
Import tax incentives
VAT incentives

Power prices and costs

The average electricity price in Costa Rica has dropped from 161.67 USD/MWh in 2021 to 152.14 USD/MWh in 2022. Since 2017, the average electricity price in Costa Rica has fluctuated between 152.14 USD/MWh (2022) and 184.91 USD/MWh (2020).

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Power market

The top amount of capacity installed in Costa Rica in 2022 was in Large Hydro at 45.88%, down from 46.02% in 2021. The technology with the biggest increase in capacity installed in 2022 was Solar PV at 3.02%, up from 2.55 in 2021.

Installed capacity (in MW)

2014201620182020202201K2K3K4K MW

Electricity generation (in GWh)

2014201620182020202205K10K GWh

The largest electricity generating technology in Costa Rica in 2022 was Large Hydro, generating some 53.28% of electricity, up from 51.17% in 2021.

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Investment in clean energy in Costa Rica was around $7.46 million in 2021, a decrease of 1.84% from 2019 ($7.6 million). Between 2017 and 2021, the highest investment in clean energy was in 2017 at $293.75 million, while the lowest was in 2021 with $7.46 million.

Utility privatisation

Which segments of the power sector are open to private participation?

Generation: Yes
Transmission: No
Retail: No

Type

Question

Availability

Wholesale power market

Does the country have a wholesale power market?

No

Doing business and barriers

Type

Question

Availability

Currency of PPAs

Are other PPAs (eg. corporate PPAs) signed in or indexed to U.S. Dollars or Euro?

Yes

Type

Question

Availability

Bilateral power contracts

Can a C&I (Commercial and Industrial) customer sign a long-term contract (PPA) for clean energy?

No

Type

Question

Availability

Fossil fuel price distortions - Subsidies

Does the government keep the wholesale price of electricity from fossil fuels artificially low through subsidies?

No

Type

Question

Availability

Fossil fuel price distortions - Taxes and carbon prices

Does the government significantly increase the wholesale price of electricity from fossil fuel through targeted taxes and/or carbon prices?

No

Transport

Transport policy

Costa Rica implements policies in 6/9 transport policy categories tracked by Climatescope, including Clean transport target, National ICE phase-out, EV purchase grant/loan incentive, EV VAT reduction/exemption, EV import tax reduction/exemption, EV income tax reduction/exemption, EV recurring tax reduction/exemption, EV charging infrastructure target, E-bus target.

Transport policies

Clean transport target
National ICE phase-out
EV purchase grant/loan incentive
EV VAT reduction/exemption
EV import tax reduction/exemption
EV income tax reduction/exemption
EV recurring tax reduction/exemption
EV charging infrastructure target
E-bus target

Type

Question

Availability

Fuel economy standards

Does the country have a fuel economy standard in place?

No
Climatescope 2023 print report cover

Power Transition Factbook

This marks the 12th anniversary of Climatescope, BNEF’s annual assessment of energy transition opportunities. In recent years, the project has been expanded to include activity not just in clean power, but also in the decarbonization of transportation and buildings.

Download report

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