Energy experts will gather in Belize next week

Next week more than one hundred and fifty government, non-governmental, and private sector representatives from across Central America will meet in Belize for the tenth regional forum on renewable energy. Organized by the Energy and Environment Partnership with Central America and the Ministry of Natural Resources, the delegates will focus their discussions on “Renewable Energies in the Sugar Industry”. In anticipation of the event, this morning officials of E.E.P. hosted a meeting with the media to highlight the benefits of using alternative energy.

Dr. Markku Narmi, Chair, Steering Committee, Energy and Environmental Partnership
“It’s very important for many reasons. Climate change certainly is the main thing but also the price of oil has made it more important to pay attention to it and many countries are now concentrating on renewable much more. But in Central America I think you are lucky because you are very rich in renewables, very large variety of renewables. You have hydro quite a lot, you have wind power, you have biomass particularly in the sugar industry, like this new power station project here in Belize Sugar Factory, is very promising. Political will is needed but you also need a realistic place where to put it and investors who makes it.”

Juan Rancharan, Belize’s Policy Coordinator, Energy and Environmental Partnership
“We are encouraging the private sector who think that they have a viability of micro-hydroelectric plants to visit the Department of the Environment and see what projects we can submit for approval, that’s one of their goals noh, for the partnership.”

Since the organization was established in 2002, six projects have been implemented in Belize under the Energy and Environment Partnership. If weather permits, one such initiative, a wind power plant on Calabash Caye will be officially sanctioned by E.E.P. officials tomorrow. Another project in the works is the construction of two micro hydroelectric plants at the Douglas Silva Forest Station in the Mountain Pine Ridge.