Nicaragua
NICNicaragua has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
Low-carbon electricity went from 28% to 62% in 20 years.
What this grid depends on
Three measures that say more about a country than how much power it makes. Open “what this means” on any of them if the term is new.
Cleaner than 7 in 10 grids worldwide.
What this means
How much planet-warming gas is released to make one unit of electricity. Two countries can generate exactly the same amount and one of them be ten times dirtier doing it. Lower is better.
Nicaragua buys in more electricity than it sends out.
What this means
The share of the electricity used here that was generated abroad and carried in over high-voltage lines. The higher it climbs, the more this country relies on a neighbour to keep its lights on.
Also true of Nicaragua
Bioenergy overtook geothermal on Nicaragua's grid in 2021.
Today bioenergy supplies 20% and geothermal 15%.
Nicaragua is close to the bottom in Latin America and the Caribbean for electricity used per person.
654 kWh per person per year, 41th of 42.
Nicaragua is second in Latin America and the Caribbean for geothermal.
Geothermal supplies 15% of its electricity.
Nicaragua’s neighbours
HondurasHonduras has cleaned up its grid faster than most people realise.
Costa RicaCosta Rica generates no oil electricity at all, in a region built on it.
El SalvadorHydro overtook geothermal on El Salvador's grid in 2024.
BelizeBelize is second in the world for bioenergy.
GuatemalaBioenergy overtook coal on Guatemala's grid in 2020.
Figures are for 2024, the most recent year reported for Nicaragua. Generation shares are a percentage of electricity generated, not of energy used. How this is calculated.