Belize Forum to Examine How Homes and Businesses Can Generate Electricity

Belize’s electricity supply and the role homes and businesses can play in generating power will be the focus of a public forum this Thursday in Belize City.  Distributed generation refers to electricity produced from smaller sources closer to where it is used, such as solar panels installed at homes or businesses. Some systems operate independently of the national grid, while others can be connected to it, subject to the applicable requirements.  CEO Leroy Almendarez says the forum will look at life both on and off the grid and explore the role of distributed generation in Belize’s energy future.

CEO Leroy Almendarez, Ministry of Public Utilities Energy and Logistics: “This forum, we thought it very important, like I said, because people keep asking about it. And we know for a fact, like I mentioned, that 11 megawatts at 13 cents Belize that’s the cheapest source you could think about. And so we thought it would be a good idea, and it happens this Thursday at 9 o’clock. So we will have BEL, you will have the PUC, because each plays a role, and of course the Ministry. It will also be live-streamed. I believe that invitations are going. It will be at Caribbean Motors. We don’t have, I don’t think it’s a whole area that we have but it will be live-streamed for those who want to tune in and livestream and not only that you can send in your questions. It will be very engaging. All the questions, all the questions you have, you know like I said the answers will be provided from the PUC—I mean, from the regulator part of it. What role do they play in terms of managing or regulating the framework that exists? Because, again, like I said, standards are important. We don’t want to create hazards for people who believe, you know, you just go and set these things up. From BEL’s point of view again if you are going to be supplying or feeding power to me then it simply means I need to know who you are, what systems you have, et cetera. To engage virtually you can ask the questions. The questions will be posed to the panelists. The panelists will be answering those questions. And we hope that, you know, when it’s finished that people get a much better understanding of distributed generation, what it means, how you can engage if you want to engage, the processes you need to go through in terms of compliance, and to become a part of, you know, this which is an exciting process.”

The Distributed Generation Forum is being hosted by the Ministry of National Security, Energy and Ports. It will be held from ten in the morning to one in the afternoon at the Caribbean Motors showroom on the Philip Goldson Highway.  The discussion comes at a time when Belize is working to address pressure on its electricity supply. In September, Cabinet approved an emergency declaration for electricity generation after Belize Electricity Limited forecast a significant shortfall in available supply over the following twelve months. The declaration allows BEL to begin procuring additional generation capacity.  BEL had reported that, during two major outages in August, local generation was already below demand when the country temporarily lost electricity supplied from Mexico. The company has also warned that controlled power interruptions may be needed if a major source of supply is unexpectedly lost. Against that background, Thursday’s forum gives the public an opportunity to learn more about smaller-scale generation and its potential role alongside the national electricity system