ABB helps build a brighter future for Costa Rica with high power inverter technology

ABB delivered a renewable solution that allows Costa Rica's largest solar park to provide a clean and independent energy supply to 10 percent of its population, supporting Costa Rica's ambition to ensure that 100 percent of its energy comes from sources of renewable energies.

The climate and dramatic geography of Costa Rica have allowed that, for the last four years, more than 95 percent of its energy has been supplied from water, geothermal, solar and wind sources.

In 2018, Costa Rica reached 300 days of 100 percent renewable energy generation.

Costa Rica has been praised for its decision to rely on renewable energy sources. However, the country needed to prepare for changing weather conditions that would challenge its dependence on solar energy by expanding its capacity. COOPELESCA (Cooperativa de Electrificación Rural de San Carlos), founded in 1965, together with CONELECTRICAS (National Consortium of Electrification Companies of Costa Rica RL), took steps to explore new projects in these areas, naming Thesan to build the solar park more The country's largest in just four months.

To help them accomplish the task, Thesan knew that they could count on ABB, as a long-term trusted partner, to help them meet a challenge of this scale and provide a solution that could be successfully implemented within such a demanding timeframe.

ABB certainly did not disappoint, although the initial proposal had been to use a central photovoltaic (PV) solution, ABB and Thesan unlocked a more flexible solution. The response was a modular "power block concept" that uses multiple inverters throughout the park. This meant that the solution was perfectly sized for the requirements and scalable for the future, allowing for better sustained performance: if one unit shuts down, the others continue to operate at their greatest capacity without a single point of failure.

The solution provided by ABB includes:

28x PVS-175 string inverters

1x PVS-175-MVCS (Medium Voltage Compact Skid)

Size: 5 MW

Spare parts

Commissioning of inverters and compact medium voltage skid

72 hours of on-site support for the first year of operation

ABB's unique approach to the award-winning PVS-175 also offered 1500 Vdc (direct current) and 800 Vac (alternating current) - the largest solution available on the market. Due to the higher AC and DC voltage, the solution provides the greatest cost savings, with a higher return on investment. ABB's solution is also plug-and-play, which allowed for considerably faster installation to meet project times.

"ABB's technical expertise and complete solution meant that we could offer an innovative response beyond customer expectations," said Maurizio De Donno, CTO, Thesan

ABB's solution went beyond expectations and has led to new business opportunities in Costa Rica for both Thesan and ABB. Its successful delivery has also made COOPELESCA and CONELECTRICAS provide a clean and independent energy supply to 10 percent of the country's population. Today, more people in rural areas are connected to renewable sources, helping Costa Rica take a big step towards its goal of becoming 100 percent renewable energy.