BY BEL: Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) wishes to inform its Customers and the public that it is currently working through a delay in completing the San Pedro Gas Turbine Project due to the failure (during commissioning) of one of the transformers used to connect the gas turbine to the grid. The gas turbine was initially scheduled to be brought online between the end of May and early June.
BEL along with the installation contractor is in the process of procuring a replacement transformer for the gas turbine. This is expected to be delivered on site and installed by the end of July and the gas turbine should be brought online within a few days afterwards.
The delay in the commissioning of the gas turbine means that BEL will have to continue to monitor the power demand in San Pedro during peak demand hours and take precautionary measures where necessary to protect the submarine cable until the San Pedro Gas Turbine is brought online.
Once completed, the San Pedro Gas Turbine facility will add 20 MW of firm backup generation capacity onto the grid as a whole as well as supplement the submarine interconnection from the mainland which is currently constrained by the maximum cable capacity of 17.4 MW. BEL remains committed to providing safe and reliable energy solutions to our Customers in San Pedro and throughout the country, and we promise to keep you informed of any further developments in the completion of the San Pedro Gas Turbine Project as they occur.
