ICE clarifies Costa Rica's electrical capacity and investment needs

The Instituto Costarricense de Electricidad (ICE) issued a statement to refute information circulated by labor unions regarding the National Electric System (SEN). The clarification follows recent comments made by President Laura Fernández Delgado.

ICE stated that while there is no immediate risk of shortages and the country has sufficient capacity to meet demand through 2026, the current generation infrastructure is insufficient for long-term growth projections. The Institute warned that it is a “fundamental technical error” to assume current capacity can meet the needs of coming decades.

To ensure the sustainability of the SEN, the Institute noted that investments totaling billions of dollars are required. ICE emphasized that it cannot bear these massive costs alone and argued that it would be “irresponsible to centralize” such a large volume of investment within the Institute. Specific regional challenges were also noted, such as the need to optimize infrastructure in the Southern Zone to bridge the distance between production and consumption centers.