Costa Rica inaugurates country’s largest solar park

Costa Rica on Saturday inaugurated the country’s largest solar park, which the government says will provide electricity to 5,000 homes.

Located in Pocosol of San Carlos, Alajuela, Parque Solar Cooperativo comprises 19,000 solar panels over 11.2 hectares. It will help northern communities enjoy uninterrupted electric service throughout the dry season, when hydroelectric capacity diminishes, according to Casa Presidencial.

“From Pocosol we send a message to the world that a country committed to renewable energy is capable of generating a solar panel project,” President Carlos Alvarado posted on Twitter. “[This is] a strong message of the path that we are following as a country.”

Inauguramos el parque solar más grande del país. Desde Pocosol se manda un mensaje al mundo de que un país comprometido con las energías renovables es capaz de generar un proyecto de páneles solares. Un mensaje fuerte de la ruta que seguimos como país. #DescarbonicemosCR 🌿 pic.twitter.com/dYPK6AY0oR

— Carlos Alvarado Quesada (@CarlosAlvQ) March 30, 2019

“Parque Solar Cooperativo will be an important step to reach the [decarbonization] goal by 2050,” Alvarado said. “Photovoltaic energy will be paramount to electrify transport and to abandon hydrocarbons.”

The project cost nearly $6.5 million, according to Casa Presidencial. It was overseen by the Cooperative and the Consortium of National Electrification Companies (CONELECTRICAS), and Coopelesca, the rural electrification cooperative of San Carlos.

“This is a very important project for us because we are working to diversify the production of energy from environmentally friendly sources,” said Omar Miranda, Coopelesca’s general manager.

Costa Rica in February announced plans to decarbonize by 2050, an ambitious plan that will involve modernizing the country’s transportation sector with a focus on walking, biking and electric-powered trains.

The Minister of the Environment and Energy, Carlos Manuel Rodríguez, also unveiled a 10-point plan for decarbonization beginning with short-term goals the current administration aims to complete before 2022.

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