In Costa Rica, significant strides are being made in the liberalisation of the electricity market. In 2022, the government presented a draft project for the “Harmonisation of the National Electricity System” to open up the energy market following years of crisis. In October 2023, a new version of the text proposes the creation of the National Electricity Market (NEM), where energy purchase and sale transactions would take place among wholesale agents.
The entity managing the electric system, known as the Coordinator of the National Electricity System (ECOSEN), would become independent from those involved in the generation, distribution, and transmission of electricity. This new institutional entity would be tasked with ensuring equal conditions for all market participants, whether public or private. ECOSEN would also develop the Generative Expansion Plan, which serves as the roadmap for determining the construction of new power plants in the country, in coordination with sector agents and all interested parties. Access to the system would be granted according to criteria of quality, competence, efficiency, graduality, universality, and sustainability, which would be established by the regulatory body, the Public Services Regulatory Authority (ARESEP).
All electricity distributors would be required to continue operating with regulated prices for their final customers, under the supervision of ARESEP. To ensure the base generation and the cost of its maintenance, capacity contracts would be established and paid to producers regardless of their usage. If supply were determined solely based on the lowest price at the moment, as it is in some countries, it would not be profitable to build and maintain the generation works that ensure the continuity of service.
The project for opening the system, which still needs refining, aims to guarantee quality, price, sustainability, and benefits for citizens and businesses. The project is also considered essential for the expansion of the traditional productive system and free zones, for implementing the decarbonisation plan, especially in transportation, and for seizing the opportunity to produce semiconductors, a sector the country is heavily focusing on.
The draft law is also supported by the manager of the National Electricity System, the Costa Rican Institute of Electricity (ICE), as the demand for electricity will necessitate investments amounting to several billion dollars in the next decade, which the Institute cannot handle alone, given that it can only incur debt up to 45% of its own assets, as can its subsidiaries. According to ICE’s estimates, the country will need approximately 3 billion dollars of investments solely for generation.
