BEL imports hindered by transmission system

Belize power company BEL cannot import power from Mexico's Merida III thermoelectric plant because of limited transmission systems, BNamericas has learned. The transmission system of Mexico's state power company CFE cannot carry the capacity from the Yucatan-based plant, Dawn Sampson, BEL spokesperson, told BNamericas. Mexico's energy regulator CRE last year authorized the plant, owned by US power company AES, to sell 39.4GWh a year to BEL, on top of the 484MW sales commitment to Mexico's federal power company CFE. Sampson declined to say whether importing power from Merida III would prove necessary in the future, though Felipe Ceron, AES' vice president for Latin American generation, told BNamericas it was a "possibility." "The conditions just haven't been ripe," he said. In the meantime, BEL will rely on existing power sources to supply its needs, including imports from Mexico's CFE, diesel-fired units in Belize City and the Mollejon hydro plant. Further, BEL started operating a diesel-fired 20MW peaking unit July 11, designed to operate at peak times and during emergencies, a BEL official said, adding the project required US$13mn in investment.