Costa Rica switches on 5-MW PV park

Costa Rica's Coopeguanacaste cooperative inaugurated on Thursday a 5-MW photovoltaic (PV) plant in the department of Guanacaste.

Named Solar Juanilama, the PV facility is located in the town of Santa Cruz. Comprised of more than 15,000 solar panels, the plant is expected to generate around 9 GWh per year, according to the cooperative.

Some USD 8.6 million (EUR 7.2m) were invested in the development of this PV farm through the Sustainable Energy Fund (MSEF), a private equity fund that promotes energy efficiency and renewable energy projects in the Americas Latina.

Spread over 5 hectares, Solar Juanilama should benefit some 2,100 households and offset about 1,500 tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions annually, the local media reported.

Solar Juanilama is also the first Latin American project to be implemented through a bilateral agreement between the government of Japan and Costa Rica to promote the use of clean technologies that reduce emissions of greenhouse gases.

(USD 1 = EUR 0.839)

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