Minister Explains Government’s Plan on Energy for Belize

The Belize Chamber of Commerce, B.C.C.I. and Industry sent off a letter recently to Minister of Energy, Michel Chebat, inquiring about the government’s plan as it relates to finding alternative sources of energy in Belize. The Chamber expressed that it felt it is imperative that as a priority a sufficient, reliable power supply, is identified, pointing to solar energy as a promising avenue for reducing our reliance on fossil fuels and our supplier, C.F.E. in Mexico. And today, the Minister responded, saying that the Chamber has raised some important issues in relation to energy in Belize. The Minister went on to explain what the government has been doing to increase Belize’s energy supply.

Michel Chebat

Michel Chebat, Minister of Public Utilities

“If you look at Plan Belize, you will see that from way back then, the government of, of Belize has decided that we are gonna try to have 70% of our energy come from renewable sources within country. I can tell you that as of 2022, about 53% of our energy is coming from renewable sources within country from biomass and so forth. So the government has been looking at this very seriously. It is an issue of concern for us. We are looking at battery storage to add to the energy mix to provide resiliency to the system. The government of Belize has also obtained a loan from Saudi Arabia for the creation of a 60 megawatt plant, solar plant, which would be added to this energy mix. So, we feel that we are on the right track. Um, we are looking at it very seriously because not only do we have to look at what the present day concerns are, but how do we, um, improve and make sure that we have the electricity demand to meet the economic growth that our country is facing. As a matter of fact, when you look at some of the studies that BL did, They did not even anticipate the level of economic growth we’ve had so far. They anticipated this growth would be happening in 2028, but at the ministry we have foreseen this and so that we have been reaching beyond BEL and their sources to find additional sources that we can generate more electricity for the country and to match the economic growth that we are facing.”