Caye Caulker connected to national electricity grid

Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) announced on September 25th that Caye Caulker had been connected to the national electricity grid via a new 34.5-kilovolt transmission line linking the island to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. The connection is part of BEL’s Seventh Power Project and marks a change for an island that previously relied on diesel generators for its electricity.
BEL said the connection will reduce Caye Caulker’s reliance on diesel generation and provide capacity to meet growing electricity demand. The project includes a switching station in San Pedro and a substation on Caye Caulker to receive and distribute power. BEL has said the new infrastructure is intended to improve reliability and reduce losses in the electricity system.
The Caribbean Development Bank financed the project in part. BEL’s existing diesel generators are to remain on Caye Caulker as a backup supply. A gas turbine in San Pedro can also provide backup power, according to BEL’s project information. This gives the island access to the national grid as well as local and nearby generation when needed.
In an earlier update on the project, BEL Project Lead Jaime Vasquez said the company was working to improve the reliability of Caye Caulker’s power supply. BEL first announced plans for the connection in 2019 and reported acquiring the submarine cable in 2023. An earlier estimate placed the installation and connection cost at approximately BZ$15 million; a final project cost has not been confirmed.
The connection has also raised questions among some Hicaqueños. When outages affected the national grid in the past, Caye Caulker’s separate diesel system sometimes kept the island powered. Residents have questioned whether joining the grid could now expose them to interruptions elsewhere in the country, including periods of load shedding.
BEL has pointed to the retained generators and the San Pedro gas turbine as backup sources. However, the connection alone does not guarantee that Caye Caulker will be unaffected by every national power interruption. How the system performs during future outages will be an important measure for residents.
BEL says the project is necessary to support the island’s continued growth. Its earlier project information projected that Caye Caulker’s peak electricity demand could more than double by 2040, driven in part by residential and tourism development.