Costa Rica: the National Green Hydrogen Strategy 2022–2050 — 200–750 MW of electrolysis by 2030

Costa Rica presented in December 2022 the National Green Hydrogen Strategy for 2022–2050 (Estrategia Nacional de Hidrógeno Verde de Costa Rica 2022-2050). The date of December 2022 is given by IPHE and by the compilation of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University, and Energía Estratégica described the document on 13 December 2022. The strategy rests on the country's almost fully renewable electricity.

Main assumptions

According to Energía Estratégica, the government of Costa Rica assumes that by 2030 (in the text of the article: "al 2023", which is a visible error given the title) between 200 and 750 MW of electrolysis will be installed or under development, and the cost of producing hydrogen (LCOH) will reach about USD 2 per kilogram. The industrial sector is to replace 8 to 10% of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) or fuel oil it uses with green hydrogen, mainly in wood and paper plants. Delivery of the demand targets is expected to allow an emission reduction of 250–400 thousand tonnes of CO₂e a year by 2030 and the creation of 12–18 thousand direct and indirect jobs, including in renewable projects. The process is to be carried out in stages.

The role of the BID

The Inter-American Development Bank (BID) describes in technical cooperation project CR-T1239 its general objective: to support the government of Costa Rica in developing the green hydrogen market in line with the Decarbonisation Plan 2018–2050, and among the specific objectives – the development of a national green hydrogen strategy and roadmap. Costa Rica was among the countries of the region that in 2021–2022 were preparing such documents; in the Columbia University compilation it appears alongside, among others, Colombia (September 2021).

Hydrogen and biogas

For biogas and biomethane, a hydrogen strategy is of indirect significance: electrolysers compete for renewable electricity, and bioenergy from agricultural and municipal waste can be a complement. We found no provisions of the strategy concerning biomethane in open sources.

What we do not know

We did not open the full text of the strategy (the ministry's presentation and the Capacity4dev page were unavailable), so we quote the quantitative targets from Energía Estratégica.

What this means for Poland and Europe

For Europe, countries with almost entirely renewable electricity are potential suppliers of green hydrogen and its derivatives, but their domestic markets are small. The Costa Rican strategy points to a typical dilemma of small countries: whether to build production mainly for their own needs or for export — and that depends on costs, infrastructure and external demand.