NEMA’s electroindustry May 2010 - 23

International Roundup
CANENA 2010 › Costa Rica—Gateway to Emerging Electrical Markets
Costa Rica is a small Central American country with a quarter of its territory dedicated to national parks for conservation. The perception of Costa Rica as an agrarian country—with coffee and banana production as its greatest exports—is outdated. Because of its abundant rainfall, Costa Rica has the potential to become a major electricity exporter. Agriculture has been toppled as a result of direct investment by Intel, Procter & Gamble, and Abbott Laboratories, and ecotourism. The political dynamics are also changing. Recent elections resulted in Costa Rica’s first female president, Laura Chinchilla Miranda. She is a graduate of the University of Costa Rica, received a master’s degree in public policy from Georgetown University, and served under the previous administration as one of its two vice presidents. President Chinchilla is expected to continue the current government’s pro–free trade policies. The country has 14 bilateral free trade agreements, but none is more worrisome than the one with China. The previous administration had changed the voluntary use of the National Electrical Code® (NEC) to mandatory, a change that is expected to be completed within the next few weeks. Members of the Professional Society of Electrical Engineers are strong advocates of the change. They are concerned by the quality of electrical installations and have instituted a practice of inspection as a way of improving electrical trades. To combat issues with the importation of substandard electrical products, INTECO (the Costa Rican eletrotechnical standards developer) has adopted 12 CANENA harmonized trinational standards. INTECO is also a member of CANENA (Council for Harmonization of Electrotechnical Standards of the Nations of the Americas), and a sponsor of the recent 2010 CANENA conference. The 2010 conference in San José, Costa Rica, was a first for CANENA and a great success. INTECO and BUN-CA, a regional facilitator on energy-efficiency matters, co-sponsored the event. The CANENA Planning Committee, chaired by Tim McNeive of Thomas & Betts, deserves much credit for planning this outreach effort. In addition to the conference, a product show drew seven exhibitors: Eaton Power Quality, Schneider Electric, Thomas & Betts, Eaton Electrical, GE, BTicino, ESFI, and ICE (Institute of Electricity, Costa Rica’s national utility). Eduardo Sibaja, Costa Rica minister of economy, industry, and commerce, opened the conference with the announcement that Costa Rica will officially adopt the 2008 NEC in English, ensuring that the country will improve electrical safety in its electrical installations. Costa Rica has placed a priority on energy efficiency, predominantly in transportation as it does not produce oil. Interest in electrical energy efficiency is evident in that CFLs are predominant in residential homes and sodium vapor lights for street lighting can be seen throughout San José. NEMA Smart Grid Director Paul Molitor spoke about the flurry of activity in the development of a Smart Grid. ICE stated that it is taking the first steps to implement a Smart Grid and expressed interest in working with NEMA and CANENA to gain understand the perspective of electrical equipment manufacturers. As part of the ongoing Market Development Cooperator Program targeting all U.S. trading partners in Central America, NEMA Mexico Director Gustavo Dominguez spoke on motor efficiency and the dangers of counterfeit electrical products. Carlos Rodriguez, INTECO, represented the Centroamerica and Caribbean Commission of Standardization (COMCCANOR), which represents Guatemala, Honduras, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. It participates with other SDOs—regionally with COPANT and internationally with ISO and IEC. COMCCANOR has adopted 20 regional standards, 12 of which are ANCE standards, i.e., CANENA trinational standards. CANENA members have always
NEMA electroindustry

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May 2010

NEMA’s electroindustry May 2010

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of NEMA’s electroindustry May 2010