Is the electricity reliable in Placencia, Belize? Are there blackouts or brownouts in Placencia, Belize?
Frik De Meyere
At the top of the 16-mile Placencia Peninsula, there’s a shrimp farm, and if this shrimp farm loses its power for any more than 15 – 20 minutes, it will lose about US $10 million in shrimp because the shrimp can’t get any oxygen. So the shrimp farm has three 7 mega-watt super duty backup generators that are so powerful that if they were all running at the same time, it would constitute a little less than one quarter of the power supply of the entire nation of...
At the top of the 16-mile Placencia Peninsula, there’s a shrimp farm, and if this shrimp farm loses its power for any more than 15 – 20 minutes, it will lose about US $10 million in shrimp because the shrimp can’t get any oxygen. So the shrimp farm has three 7 mega-watt super duty backup generators that are so powerful that if they were all running at the same time, it would constitute a little less than one quarter of the power supply of the entire nation of Belize.
The shrimp farm signed a contract with the government of Belize to act as the official emergency energy provider of much of the southern part of Belize. In the event of a real emergency, Placencia has all the access to power it needs, plus we’ve got three feeder lines over to Mexico and Guatemala. For the most part, the power is pretty consistent; not perfect, but pretty consistent.
Posted December 1, 2014
Veronique McKenzie - CTTBeliZe
The reliability of the supply of electricity in Placencia is a little bit better now compared to before. When I hear this question, I think about the past when it was harder but now the power only goes out if they are working on the system and in these cases, they let us know when the power will be off. If there are blackouts, it could be because of a bad storm so the power will be out in all of the country of Belize. We decorate our houses less for...
The reliability of the supply of electricity in Placencia is a little bit better now compared to before. When I hear this question, I think about the past when it was harder but now the power only goes out if they are working on the system and in these cases, they let us know when the power will be off. If there are blackouts, it could be because of a bad storm so the power will be out in all of the country of Belize. We decorate our houses less for Christmas so, that way, the power goes out less. In general, blackouts are not a problem in Placencia anymore. We could go for a year without any blackouts now unless there was a fire or something similar. The electricity in Placencia is very reliable now and we don’t have problems with electricity in Belize in general.
(Pictured: Placencia, at Christmas)
Posted June 27, 2015
Wayne Robbins - The Placencia
When I first got down in Belize 12 years ago, there were blackouts. It has gotten better. There are still some power outages especially during bad weather.Our project is fully backed up with generators so we’ve never been without power for any significant length of time. If we do have a power outage, it is only for just a few seconds until the generator kicks in.
The reason for so few blackouts is because a wide area of Placencia has the power underground. The...
When I first got down in Belize 12 years ago, there were blackouts. It has gotten better. There are still some power outages especially during bad weather.Our project is fully backed up with generators so we’ve never been without power for any significant length of time. If we do have a power outage, it is only for just a few seconds until the generator kicks in.
The reason for so few blackouts is because a wide area of Placencia has the power underground. The villages that have the power above ground get more power outages. Belize has dramatically improved over the last five years in terms of infrastructure, blackouts and Internet connectivity. They make sure that there are as few outages as possible because they understand the value of having reliable electricity to those bringing in tourism and real estate to Placencia.
(The Capriccio Restaurant at night in The Placencia, Placencia, Belize, pictured.)
Posted October 19, 2015
David Keener - Vision Properties Belize
Electricity is pretty reliable in Placencia and has gotten much better over the past 5 years and seems to be improving each year. The looping of the grid in Placencia really seemed to reduce the number of planned outages. However, most larger homes and all resort properties in Placencia have generators that they can use just in case a blackout happens. (Pool lit at night in Placencia, Belize, pictured.)
Electricity is pretty reliable in Placencia and has gotten much better over the past 5 years and seems to be improving each year. The looping of the grid in Placencia really seemed to reduce the number of planned outages. However, most larger homes and all resort properties in Placencia have generators that they can use just in case a blackout happens. (Pool lit at night in Placencia, Belize, pictured.)
Posted February 19, 2016