  Over the last four years, Costa Rica has generated more than 95% of its domestic electricity from renewable energy. - A.M. Costa Rica wire services illustrative photo - |
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 Published Wednesday, September 2, 2020 A
U.S. company develops the first
Tesla battery in Costa Rica By the A.M. Costa Rica staff Salt Lake city-based CleanSpark, Inc., a diversified software and services company, announced on Tuesday the successful deployment of the company's mPulse software on its microgrid project in Costa Rica. The microgrid will consist of a 222-kW PV solar system, and a Tesla 111-kW/223kWh Powerpack provided by CleanSpark. The system is integrated with standby diesel generation for use in the event of a sustained power disruption. This will be one of the first Tesla battery systems deployed in Costa Rica. The new project will be developed in the company facilities in San José, using CleanSpark's patented mPulse controller to coordinate all aspects of the system and improve overall performance. During system operations, the mPulse controller, utilizing operating parameters identified and modeled through our mVSO software, is expected to significantly reduce the use of grid power. "The Tesla battery energy storage system will be intelligently controlled by mPulse to shave peak demand and improve the overall project economics and ensure long-term cost avoidance," CleanSpark, Inc said in its statement. "Additionally, this project will reduce greenhouse gas emissions to assist the Costa Rican people to close the gap on their goal to become the world's first carbon-neutral country." According to the company, many countries in Latin America share a central 1,100 mile-long power grid, as a result, a disruption in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama or Costa Rica can affect the others within the region. Costa Rica experienced a nationwide power outage in 2017 as a result of a downed power transmission line in Panama. The impacts of these disruptions can potentially cause millions of dollars in losses for commercial, industrial and agricultural customers. One of the key value propositions of a CleanSpark microgrid is the ability to provide energy certainty during unplanned outages, as well as meaningful, long-term economic benefits. "Over the last four years, Costa Rica has generated more than 95% of its domestic electricity from renewable energy, Matt Schultz, CleanSpark's Chairman said. " In 2018, nearly 75% of all national renewables came from hydropower. Recent drought conditions have threatened the consistency of that supply, and the country has been more reliant on wind production." According to Schultz, this CleanSpark powered system utilizes proprietary forecasting, driven, not only by the end-user's energy consumption behaviors and utility rates, but a multitude of other factors, including forecasted weather patterns. "Having an intelligent, fully-automated hybrid-cloud controller allows the end-user the security of knowing the vectors they have identified as priority are being met without any requirement for a 'man in the loop'," added Schultz. According to Zach Bradford, CEO of CleanSpark, this is the second project and first large scale deployment of our mPulse software and controls in Costa Rica. "As part of our plans to expand internationally we have identified significant opportunities in Latin America. Costa Rica and Mexico are the first countries we are targeting with plans to expand to the Brazilian and Panama market in 2021." "We are optimistic on the future of the markets we are seeing both internationally and domestically and we expect to expand our presence in conjunction with our local partners as they embark on a new era of microgrid and energy development in Costa Rica," Bradford said. -------------------------- What other international firms should open a branch in Costa Rica? We would like to know your thoughts on this story. Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com |
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