Power StationsWORLDWIDETHE GLOBAL EDITION 01
Map of 27 power plants in Costa Rica, coloured by fuel and sized by capacity
← Country directoryCRI / COUNTRY PROFILE

Power plants in Costa Rica

27 power-plant records · 1,968 MW reported capacity

  • Hydro 67%
  • Geothermal 19%
  • Oil 11%
Explore Costa Rica on the map

Costa Rica at a glance

Power-plant records
27
Reported capacity
1,968 MW
Renewable electricity (2024)
99.9%
Most records
Hydro, Geothermal
Capital
San José

Reported capacity is the rated size of the listed installations, not electricity being produced now. Source dates and coverage differ, so newer facilities may be absent and historical records may remain.

How electricity works in Costa Rica

Vertically integrated utilityOne utility does everything

Hydro, geothermal and wind supply about 99% of electricity in most years. Part of the regional MER market via the SIEPAC line.

  1. GenerationState utility
  2. TransmissionState utility
  3. DistributionState utility
  4. CustomersGovernment-set tariffs

Who regulates

Who controls the grid

State-owned ICE runs most generation, all transmission and much of distribution, alongside cooperatives and municipal utilities.

Markets & power exchanges

Regional grid

What does “Vertically integrated utility” mean?

A single, usually state-owned utility generates, transmits and distributes electricity. Prices are set or approved by the government or a regulator rather than by a market.

References reviewed 2026-09-29. Logos are each organisation’s own site icon, shown to identify it. Selected organisations, not an exhaustive list of licence holders.

Browse the worldwide operator directory
ELECTRICITY IN 2024

How Costa Rica generates electricity

Electricity generated11 TWh
Renewable share99.9%
Low-carbon share99.9%
Carbon intensity25.5 gCO₂e/kWh

Electricity mix 2024

Annual generation by source · terawatt-hours (TWh)

Hydro8 TWh
Wind1.2 TWh
Solar0.09 TWh
Bioenergy0.06 TWh
Other renewables1.6 TWh
Nuclear0 TWh
Coal0 TWh
Gas0 TWh
Other fossil0.01 TWh

Missing categories are labelled “No data”. Rounding can cause small differences from the reported total.

Source: Ember (2026), processed by Our World in Data · CC BY 4.0 · Snapshot 24 April 2026. Method & download details.

Explore trends & country comparisons

Geography and data notes

Costa Rica is in Central America. Its coastal or island geography provides a different setting for electricity infrastructure from inland systems. This profile connects country reference information with the historical station inventory and reported electricity generation.

Capital
San José
Languages
Spanish
Region
Central America

Geographic reference: Countries geographic database (ODbL). Boundaries and names are for orientation; language listings are introductory, not exhaustive. Banner map: Natural Earth boundaries (public domain) with this atlas’s station records.

The source inventory contains 27 records for Costa Rica. Select a fuel in the map to explore where its stations are located, then open a record to inspect reported capacity and provenance.

Inventory coverage

27 source records. 0 reported operational in their source snapshot; this is not live status.

27 lack an owner/operator; 27 lack a commissioning year.

Coverage, dates & exclusions
THE GENERATION INVENTORY

List of power plants in Costa Rica

Open country map

Browse 27 source records, ordered by reported capacity. Ownership and operating status describe the source snapshot; they may have changed. Missing information is shown explicitly.

Published selection: 12 records. JavaScript loads the full searchable inventory.

MW measures rated capacity, not electricity generated. Records may describe units, installations, projects or whole complexes. Review inventory coverage and licenses. Download this country’s records.