Guanacaste is not just famous for its many beautiful beaches and National Parks, but is also generates 38.22% of the electricity of Costa Rica since 1991, all of it from renewable sources.

Structures created by the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE), the private sector and a cooperative, makes Guanacaste home to 27 electricity plants that are part of the National Electric System (SEN).

The ARDESA Complex which encompasses the hydroelectric plants Arenal, Dengo and Sandillal which work with water from the Arenal Lake and generate almost 20% of the annual electricity consumption of Costa Rica.

In 1994 geothermal energy was included as a second source of renewable energy in the country with the inauguration of the Miravalles I Geothermal plant. Today Las Pailas, the second geothermal field in the country also contributes to the energy production while at the same time they have set the goal of protecting and recovering 1,869 hectares of forest, bringing back flora and fauna that had almost disappeared in the area as a result of ranching and lumbering.

In the mid 90’s Ingenio Taboga and El Viejo contribute with biomass energy during the sugar harvest.

It was in 1996 when the first wind plant was installed (also the first in Latin America), making Costa Rica one of the world leaders in the participation of this source in its matrix of electric generation.

The first photovoltaic electric generation plan was installed in 2012, Solar Miravalles.

In total 27 renewable energy plants are operating in the Guanacaste province.