B.E.L. feasibility study on Chalillo complete

Belize Electricity Limited today released the results of its feasibility study on the Chalillo hydroelectric project… and to the surprise of absolutely no one the report says the project is economically sound. While even the executive summary gets a bit too technical for the layman, the study, conducted by the Canadian firm AGRA C.I. Power, basically says, one, that the geology of the Chalillo area can support a dam. Two, that while earlier hydrology estimates were inaccurate, the newest data suggests that the flow in the Macal River is adequate to support the project. And three, the resulting power produced by the Chalillo and Mollejon facilities will represent a significant and economically beneficial increase to the nation’s existing energy supply. The one caveat emphasized in the report, is that because the major benefit of the dam is to increase the flow to the existing facility at Mollejon, the Chalillo project only makes economic sense if B.E.L. and Duke Power, the owner of Mollejon, can come to agreement on the best way forward. This arrangement could mean anything from a B.E.L. buyout of Mollejon to Duke putting up the money for Chalillo. That price tag is estimated at almost twenty-eight million US dollars with the project coming on stream in mid 2003. Currently the Department of Environment and various NGOs are studying the consulting firm’s environmental impact assessment. There has been no official reaction to today’s release by the environmental community… but the New Year should see plenty of rough and tumble debate. For his part Stan Marshall, Chairman of Fortis Incorporated, the company which owns a controlling interest in B.E.L., has already gone on record stating that if the studies show Chalillo to be a good idea he will do what he can to make it happen.