ACCIONA in Costa Rica: one foot in Paradise

Three contracts in renewables, water and infrastructure, have opened the door to Costa Rica, a country whose distinguishing feature is environmental respect.

Costa Rica enjoyed more political stability than any other Central American country during the second half of the 20th century. Economic liberalization and free trade, the country's commitment to hydroelectric power and its quest for clean energies - given its lack of oil resources - have been key factors. The percentage of energy coverage has risen to 98.6% of the territory, a statistic comparable with developed countries. Even so, Costa Rica's government aims for supply to come solely from renewable energies from 2017 onwards. This is one area where ACCIONA has started to make headway.

Wind farm

ACCIONA Energy is to install a 49.5 MW wind farm at Chiripa in the municipality of Tilarán in the north-west of the country, in 2013. It will consist of 33 x 1.5 MW, 77m-diameter rotor, wind turbine generators manufactured by ACCIONA Windpower

ACCIONA is to undertake the installation thanks to having been awarded a public tender held by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) for the purchase of electricity from a wind power station of up to 50 MW. The Company replied to the call for tender via a company in which it has a 65% stake, the other 35% being held by a local partner, Grupo Ecoenergía. The award involves the signing of a 20-year electricity sales contract (Power Purchase Agreement, PPA) and the installation of the wind farm under the BOT (Build, Operate and Transfer) formula. This is where the developing company designs, builds and operates the farm for the 20 years the PPA is in force and, once the period is over, ownership of the installation is transferred to the Costa Rican electricity Institute.

In figures

• Surface area: 51.100 km²
• Population: 4.301.712
• Unemployment rate: 6,5%
• Inflation: 4,4% (2011)
• GDP: + 4%
• GDP per capita: US$ 7.468
• Interest rate: 10,75%
• Official Language: Spanish
• Currency: Costa Rican Colón
• Exchange rate: 1 eur = crc655.26
• Political organization: Presidential republic
• President of government: Laura Chinchilla

Sewage treatment

Another of the big challenges Costa Rica has to meet, in order to grow economically, is the improvement of its sewage treatment network. Sewage treatment in the country has only reached about 4% and the network covers just 27%. ACCIONA Agua is to bring solutions, one of which is to build and operate Costa Rica's largest sewage treatment plant. The project is valued at over 35 million euros and will give coverage to more than one million people in the metropolitan area of the capital, San José. Los Tajos Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) is at the heart of the first stage of the Environmental Improvement Program for San José, an operational program which also includes the rehabilitation and extension of the network of sewers and secondary drain networks to over 360 km. With this, the quantity of untreated sewage will be reduced from 20% to 0.1% at national level. The total investment foreseen will come to US$ 290 million. In the second stage, the Improvement Plan is to clean up the basin of the Tárcoles River, lowering the risk to public health and possible contamination of the region's aquifers, as well as readying the city for the growth foreseen for the coming years.

Costa Rica, "Life's Great"

This is the slogan (from the Costa Rican greeting, Pura Vida) of a country which celebrates its extraordinary nature as one of its most precious treasures. Eco-tourism is one of the main sources of wealth for Costa Rica, representing over 60% of GDP. In this context of respecting the environment, ACCIONA Engineering has received the assignment to edit a Study of the Environmental, Economic and Social Impact of the New International Airport for Brunca Region, an area familiar to the Company since taking part in its sustainable development strategy in 2005.

Other ACCIONA projects in Latin America

• Four wind farms operating in Oaxaca state, Mexico, totaling 556 MW (half of national installed capacity).
• Wind turbine generator casing manufacturing plant in Brazil.
• Renewable energy projects being awarded or at the presentation stage for tenders in Chile.
• Renewable projects currently being studied in other Latin American countries.
• Construction of Venezuela's first reverse osmosis desalination plant.
• Engineering support and maintenance for WWTP at Arrudas, Brazil.
• Construction of Drinking Water Treatment Plant and aqueduct at Peravia, Dominican Republic.
• Construction and later operation of the world's biggest WWTP at Atotonilco, Mexico.
• Construction of Caracol WWTP, complementary to the one in Atotonilco.
• Construction and later operation of the Bello WWTP at Medellin, Colombia.
• Construction and later operation of the first desalination plant for mining in Atacama, Chile.
• Construction of WWTP in Ibarra, Ecuador.
• Construction of two WWTPs and a desal in Peru.
• The Ruta 160 roadway and the Chuquicamata mine in Chile.
• Açu 'super port' in Brazil, one of the world's biggest ports and South America's largest.
• Baja California II power station, Mexico.
• Cusiana gas pipeline and Apiay-Monterrey oil pipeline, Colombia.
• Hospital in Chiriqui province, Panama.