Nicaragua's renewable energy grid can easily be seen in and around the department (state) of Rivas. This tiny country is trying to breakaway from fossil fuels and hopes to do so in a matter of a few years. We saw the many windmills last year and have since grown to appreciate the countries efforts to go clean. Though oil has dropped significantly since then making renewables less profitable, the government is still pushing forward with their agenda. As it stands right now, Nicaragua's Achilles heal is the high cost of electricity for its residents. For example, the average cost of a kilowatt hour here is 36 cents which almost 6 times more expensive than in Texas. In fact, the electricity expense here is by far the highest in all of North America and is even higher than Hawaii's rates. Many locals are hoping that a combination of schemes involving wind, solar, geothermal and fossil fuels will bring down the costs of electricity in the future. Right now though, there are many rural areas off the grid. Ultimately, electrifying the remote rural areas will be capital intensive projects meaning high costs will persist into the foreseeable future. http://ecowatch.com/2016/01/08/nicaragua-renewable-energy/
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| Windmills over ranch land, in the department of Rivas, Nicaragua. |
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