QCOSTARICA — The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) – Costa Rica’s state power and light company – announced more good news thanks to the increase in rains in the last few days, electricity cuts or rationing today (Tuesday), Wednesday and Thursday will not be necessary.
This is due to the recent rainfall causing the water levels at the Cachí reservoir, a significant part of the national system, to rise by almost seven meters in the past three days.
ICE says if the current trend continues, the water levels in the dams will likely reach optimal levels to meet the country’s electricity demands, potentially avoid rationing.
“The analysis indicates that there are reserves to satisfy demand these days. The Division of Operation and Control of the Electrical System (DOCSE) determined that the improvement in national energy reserves, the production of run-of-river plants, the increase in wind and purchases in the Regional Electricity Market (MER).”
How much rain is needed for ICE to rule out blackouts?
A sustained wet season is the simple answer.
The rainy week ICE to rule out the blackouts scheduled for Monday to Thursday. And if the rains continue, possibly even Friday.
But how much more rain is needed to completely dismiss the alert? An expert in Hydrology, from the Colegio Federado de Ingenieros y Arquitectos, told Telenoticias on Monday that a sustained wet season is required “that allows the runoff to occur continuously, to fill the reservoirs.”
“As an example, the Cachí reservoir at 50 million cubic meters, is hardly filled in one day,” said Rafael Oreamuno.
Oreamuno added that he is surprised that the country has reached a moment like the current one, in which we do not know if tomorrow we will have blackouts or not.
”I didn’t expect it because the country has a fairly solid system, which not only depends on hydro, we also have geothermal, wind, a small solar park and we also have thermal, which when necessary supports energy production. No, it was something unexpected, especially that, a couple of months ago, came the news that the country would not have rationing,” said Oreamuno.
The Cachí, located in the Ujarrás Valley near the town of Cachí, is operated by ICE and began its commercial operation in May 1966 for the sole purpose of hydropower production.
The Cachí reached an installed capacity of 100 MW in 1978, and expanded to 160 MW in 2014 and 2015.
The Reventazón River originates at the base of the Irazú volcano and stretches for a length of 125 km from Cachí dam before pouring into the Caribbean Sea.
Costa Rica has a total installed hydropower capacity of 1,834 MW, providing about 6,720 GWh/year, which represents more than two-thirds of the nation’s total power production.
Costa Rica’s largest reservoirs/dams include Lake Arenal, Cachí, Rio Macho, Pirrís, and Reventazón. On the drawing boards is the El Diquís Hydroelectric Project.
On the current crisis, the ICE unions, the Sindicato Industrial de Trabajadores Eléctricos y de Telecomunicaciones, and the Sindicato de Trabajadoras y Trabajadores de la Educación Costarricense, blame the ICE management for the energy crisis.