(QCOSTARICA) The Hydroelectric Plant located on the Reventazon River near Siquirres inaugurated last Friday as been classified as the second-biggest infrastructure in Central America after the Panama Canal and the largest of its kind in the region.
President Luis Guillermo Solis inaugurated the public work on Friday, in a ceremony that drew a crowd of more than 500 people.
The 305.5 Megawatt (MW) Reventazon dam will provide electrical energy to more than 525,000 homes, producing enough energy to possible even export to other countries in the region.
The cost of the project by the Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE), the State power company, came at US$1.4 billion dollars and completed three months ahead of schedule. The plant was completely designed and built in-house by ICE and financed by local and international banks.
“It’s a source of pride today to deliver to Costa Rica the largest hydroelectric dam in Central America, managed and created with Costa Rican talent, an impressive work that positions us as a leader in socio-environmental management (…) This is what we as a country are capable of building,” ICE President Carlos Manuel Obregon said at the inauguration ceremony.
The Reventazon permits Costa Rica to maintain independence in electrical power and reach its carbon neutral goals in terms of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
In 2015, Costa Rica generated up to 99% of its electricity from renewable sources: hydroelectric, geothermal, wind, biomass and solar.
This year, the country has gone more than 150 days with 100% renewable electricity.
