Chiripa wind farm at Agua y Paz Biosphere Reserve
© ACCIONA
Costa Rica is just one Central American that has long used renewable energy sources, primarily hydro power to become more energy self-sufficient. Now an increasing number of wind farms across the country as Chriripa are helping the country reduce fossil fuel-generated power to only 5% of the energy mix.
The facility consists of thirty-three AW 77/1500 turbines that use ACCIONA Windpower technology. Each has a capacity of 1.5 MW and a rotor diameter of 77 meters, mounted on 80-meter-high steel towers.
The wind farm is located in the municipality of Tilarán (Guanacaste province) in north-west Costa Rica, on a site with high wind potential that will produce of over 200 million kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year. This level of production is equivalent to the consumption of 80,000 households in Costa Rica and will avoid the emission of around 192,000 metric tons of CO2 to the atmosphere from conventional coal-fired power stations.
The wind farm is the result of a contract awarded to the consortium for the purchase and sale of electricity from a wind farm with a capacity of up to 50 MW, in a tender previously been announced by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE). The power generated by the wind farm will be sold to the ICE under a 20-year contract. The installation represents a total investment of US $125 million (EUR 92 million at current exchange rates).
The Chiripa wind farm will mean a boost for the wind power development of Costa Rica, which ended 2013 with an accumulated capacity of 249 MW, and it will contribute to the government’s strategic objective of reducing the country’s carbon footprint.
