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
Transport score
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
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
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).
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)
Electricity generation (in 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.
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?
Type
Question
Availability
Wholesale power market
Does the country have a wholesale power market?
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?
Type
Question
Availability
Bilateral power contracts
Can a C&I (Commercial and Industrial) customer sign a long-term contract (PPA) for clean energy?
Type
Question
Availability
Fossil fuel price distortions - Subsidies
Does the government keep the wholesale price of electricity from fossil fuels artificially low through subsidies?
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?
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
Type
Question
Availability
Fuel economy standards
Does the country have a fuel economy standard in place?
