Eindhoven University of Technology MASTER Assessment of impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramon de Alajuela, Costa Rica Vink, R.A.M. Award date: 2002 Link to publication Disclaimer This document contains a student thesis (bachelor's or master's), as authored by a student at Eindhoven University of Technology. Student theses are made available in the TU/e repository upon obtaining the required degree. The grade received is not published on the document as presented in the repository. The required complexity or quality of research of student theses may vary by program, and the required minimum study period may vary in duration. 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Gaillard Faculty of Technology Management Department of Technology and Society Dr. Ir. P.A. Erkelens Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning Department of Building Technologies In co-operation with Ing. R. Pujol Mesalles, Ph. D. ProDUS University of Costa Rica, San José. Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica. Executive summary In Costa Rica, the national electricity demand is expected to grow around 5,7% annually until 2020. To meet the growing power demand, the National Development Plan calls for the construction of 29 new power plants, mainly hydro-power. CNFL is one of the state-owned companies involved in the generation and distribution of electricity in Costa Rica. In order to become more competitive within the electricity sector, which is dominated by ICE, CNFL plans to implement H.P. Balsa Superior in the canton of San Ramón de Alajuela to increase their generating capacity. However, research has demonstrated that the past performance of Costa Rica's economy was heavily related to the (accelerated) use of the country’s resource base. It is even argued that it would be possible to suggest that this steady growth is achieved only at an extremely high environmental cost resulting from ill-conceived modernisation incentive. Therefore, the government has developed official regulations for the environment. The three key variables for development strategies in the energy sector in Costa Rica are energy conservation and efficiency, use of renewable sources of energy, and the appropriate Environmental Impact Assessment of energy projects. In December 2001, ProDUS started working on the Regulatory Plan of San Ramón. The Regulatory Plan gives guidelines for future development of all land-uses and related (economic) activities in the canton of San Ramón de Alajuela, therefore knowledge regarding impacts of the proposed hydro-electric project Balsa Superior is important. This brings us to the research question as elaborated in the first part of this report. Part A: the methodological issues. In this part of the research, the methodological background of the research project is discussed. This includes an explanation of the research model, the aim and relevance of the research, the research question, the research tools, the research population and units, the methods of data-collection and the techniques of analysis. In Part B: results, the results of the fieldwork are elaborated. The fieldwork is divided into 4 sub-studies. Sub- study 1 includes a summary of the most important regional and national sustainable development objectives of the National Development Plan and the Municipality of San Ramón. In sub-study 2 a general description of H.P. Balsa Superior is given and the location of the project is determined. The primary and secondary physical structures of H.P. Balsa Superior are described and their location is determined as well. Sub-study 3 shows the results of a study on the location of present land-uses within the project area. In this study also the most appropriate research area is identified and the research population is defined. Also the land-use change within the research area is identified. In sub-study 4 the location of the research population (economic activities) is identified. Also the research units are identified in this sub-study. In this sub-study the impacts of the land-use change on the economic environment, the economic process and the economic results of the economic activities are elaborated. In Part C: conclusions and recommendations, the impacts are compared with the sustainable development objectives in order to determine the relation between H.P. Balsa Superior and sustainable development. In this part of the research also recommendations to improve or enhance this relation are given. Part A: Methodological issues The research question is as follows: “ Which are the impacts on economic activities in the research area due to alterations in the present land- use as a consequence of implementation of proposed hydro-electric project Balsa Superior in the province of San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica?” This research question is split into the following sub-research questions. These research questions are also visualised in the research model (figure 2.2): A. Which is the most appropriate research area? B. Which alterations in the present land-use appear as a consequence of the implementation of physical project structures of proposed H.P. Balsa Superior? C. Which are the impacts on economic activities in the research area due to these land-use alterations? D. How do these impacts relate to the sustainable development objectives? Main report 1 Assessment of the impacts of hydro-project Balsa Superior on economic activities in the canton San Ramón de Alajuela, Costa Rica. Part B: results Sub-study 1: sustainable development objectives A study towards the sustainable development objectives of Costa Rica learned that the regional and national governments focus on 6 so-called areas of action: 1. Physical capital: the objective is to increase the presence of physical capital and investment incentives by i.a. the establishment of a financial environment with minimal risk and attractive rates of return on investment and the improvement of the physical infrastructure (i.a. roads); 2. Productivity: the objective is to increase the productivity of economic activities by i.a. increasing the efficiency of productive services (electricty, roads) by means of competition. Also the differentiation of products and increased value added is important. 3. Human capital: objective is to improve the living conditions and welfare of people by i.a. improving education and housing standards. 4. Regional development: the objective is to accomplish technical, social, economical and environmental progress on regional level by i.a. improving the competitive position of the tourism and agricultural sector and by improving regional physical infrastructure. 5. Fight against poverty: objective is to reduce poverty by i.a. means of increasing the employment possibilities and improving the competitive positions of micro-companies. 6. Natural capital: objective is to protect the natural environment and stimulate the rational use of resources by i.a. planification (mapping) of land-use and increasing the sustainablitity of hydropower. The results of this sub-study are important in order to assess if the impacts of the project on economic activities have a positive relation to sustainable development. Sub-study 2: physical project structures A description and the location of the physical project structures are important in order to determine the project area, the research area and the impact on the present land-use. The most important physical structures are: • Intakes: Within the project area 7 intakes are located. These intakes captivate water from the rivers. This water is used for the generation of electricity. • Tunnels of conduction: Within the project area 16 kilometres of tunnels are located. These are underground, concrete structures that conduct the captivated water towards either the reservoir or the powerhouse. • Pipelines of conduction: Within the project area 4,6 kilometres of steel pipelines will be located. These are superficial, steel structures that conduct the captivated water towards either the reservoir or the powerhouse. • Reservoirs: Within the project area 2 reservoirs will be located. The reservoir stores the captivated water. The surface of the main reservoir is 250 Ha. and the volume is 50 million m3. This makes it possible to generate electricity during the dry season when discharge in the rivers is low. A second derivation reservoir has a volume of 55.000 m3 and is used for peak generation of system Balsa II. • Dams: Within the project area 4 dams will be located. The main (rock) dam has a length of 290 meters, a height of 60 meters and a width (base of dam) of 300 meters. Two other (rock) dams in system Balsa I have lengths of 190 and 142 meters, heights of 17 and 19 meters and widths of 83 and 113 meters. The concrete derivation dam in system Balsa II has a height of 30 meters, a length of 20 meters and a width of 15 meters. • Powerhouse: Within the project area 2 powerhouse will be located. In the powerhouse the turbines are located.