Arlington, VA – Today, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency awarded a technical assistance grant to the Costa Rican Electricity Institute (ICE) to help strengthen the stability and reliability of the country’s power sector. Specifically, USTDA’s assistance will support the development of a monitoring and diagnostic system to enhance the utility’s management of its power generation, transmission, and distribution assets. ICE selected California-based Electric Power Research Institute to carry out the assistance.

“USTDA is pleased to partner with Costa Rica, one of the few countries in the world that is fully powering its grid through clean energy, to advance its ambitious energy agenda,” said Enoh T. Ebong, USTDA’s Director. “We share ICE’s commitment to improving the country’s power sector through utilizing cutting-edge digital technologies that U.S. companies are eager to provide.”

USTDA’s technical assistance will fund a roadmap for the development of ICE’s fully integrated monitoring and diagnostic system, which is expected to have three components. These include centralized analysis capabilities to monitor generation, transmission, and distribution assets; a monitoring and diagnostics center to identify degrading and failing equipment; and advancing field operations and maintenance functions. Benefits from the integrated system include cost-effectiveness, security, energy efficiency, and greater organizational integration.

“As the public utility, ICE is committed to modernizing our 100% renewable power sector by developing a resilient, reliable, cost-effective, high-performance, secure power system,” said Marco Acuña, president of Grupo ICE. “ICE is excited to collaborate with USTDA to support these ambitious efforts.”

Cynthia A. Telles, U.S. Ambassador to Costa Rica said: “We are proud to have Costa Rica as a strong, supportive partner on environmental issues. With this investment, the U.S. Trade and Development Agency will help modernize Costa Rica’s power sector, which is fully generated by clean energy sources. The United States is committed to strengthening our relationship with our Costa Rican friends and advancing initiatives to support sustainable development in Costa Rica.”

This activity advances the goals of USTDA’s Global Partnership for Climate-Smart Infrastructure, which connects U.S. industry to major clean transportation and energy infrastructure projects in emerging markets.

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The U.S. Trade and Development Agency helps companies create U.S. jobs through the export of U.S. goods and services for priority infrastructure projects in emerging economies.  USTDA links U.S. businesses to export opportunities by funding project preparation and partnership building activities that develop sustainable infrastructure and foster economic growth in partner countries.

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