Costa Rica plans to invest $500 million in new geothermal plants

A $500 million loan from the Inter-American Development Bank is to be spent by the Costa Rican state power utility, the ICE on investment in three geothermal plants, Las Pailas II, Borinquen I y Borinquen II.

The money will be spent in stages as the projects advance.  The aim is to reduce the nation’s carbon footprint.

In this year’s second quarter, the ICO generated 132 GW of geothermal power, some 3 percent of the nation’s total consumption.