BEL Explains San Pedro Power Outage
San Pedro Town experienced a sudden blackout on Sunday evening when a transformer owned by Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) failed near Ramon’s Village Resort shortly after 6:00 p.m. Residents reported hearing a noise resembling an explosion.
Cause of the Outage
BEL confirmed the blackout resulted from a hardware failure on the overhead section of the 34.5 kV sub-transmission line supplying power to the island. This line links San Pedro to the national grid through a mix of submarine, underground, and overhead components.
Complications in Power Restoration
The situation was worsened because BEL’s San Pedro Gas Turbine, normally the backup power source, could not be started since it depends on the same damaged transmission line.
BEL stated that adverse weather conditions also hindered efforts to restore electricity swiftly.
Summary
The power outage in San Pedro was caused by a transformer fault on the main transmission line, with backup systems rendered inoperative and weather conditions slowing repair work.
Author’s Note
This incident highlights the vulnerability of island power systems dependent on limited infrastructure and the importance of resilient backup solutions.