Damages to the Pirris Plant could take 6 months to reverse.

Tropical storm Alma’s path of destruction is still affecting Costa Rica. The newest concern is that it has slowed down the construction of the Pirris Hydroelectric Plant, which would provide a cheap and renewable alternative to fossil fuels. It is estimated that it will be another 6 months before work can start up again. According to Government officials, the delay will cause the nation’s oil bill for 2010 (the year the plant should be completed) to be double the price tag of 2007.

The plant will save large amounts of money while providing energy to the national. Now, however, the country will have to resort to geothermal energy to replace the one that Pirris was supposed to provide, but at a higher price. While Pirris will produce electricity at about $0.08, the geothermal energy that will replace it costs 5 times as much, $0.50. It is estimated that Pirris will cost $400 million to construct, and that is without counting the damages and delay caused by Alma!

According to Minister Rodrigo Arias, the oil bill this year will already go up from 2007’s $1.5 billion to $2.9 billion. The purchase of and rising cost of fuel are responsible for this amount.

When completed, the plant will divert the water of the Pirris River in Los Santos area to a plant in Parrita. The biggest tunnel of the country was specially built for this, with a length of 10.5 km and the capacity to transport 18,000 liters of water per second. A 113 meter high reservoir has also been built in Tarrazu. It is bigger than the one in Cachi.

Alma’s trail of damage to the construction site includes severe damage to a huge conveyor belt where the river overflowed, while machinery and rocks were swept away by the strong currents. Some parts of an enormous crane were also damaged. There were also water-inflicted damages to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) installations, and three bridges were destroyed. The access roads are now in really bad condition, and until all this is repaired, the construction will remain on hold.

The President of ICE visited the area yesterday to evaluate the damages, noting that the impact of the delays is the main cause of concern. The director of the project, Oscar Luis Vega, reckons that the delays should not exceed 7 months, with the completion of the project now set for the spring of 2011. Once all the debris has been cleaned up, the landslides cleaned up and prevented leaving the roads in workable conditions, and the conveyor belt is restored, work can begin again.

Ministers are now discussing ways of saving energy to reduce fuel consumption. This can start with measures to improve public transportation. The recent rise of the cost of fuel has already alarmed the country. Now when saving seems more important than ever, nature itself has brought on more difficulties.

Photo courtesy of La Nacion daily newspaper.

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Filed under: Costa Rica News on June 19th, 2008