Transmission line issue causes Belize blackout
A major power outage plunged Belize into darkness last week and left residents without electricity for several hours.
Image for illustration purposes.
Belize, Belmopan: The blackout began just after 11 p.m. on February 7 and lasted until 2:00 a.m. on February 8. It affected nearly all regions of the country excluding the Corozal District.
Belize Electricity Limited (BEL), the nation’s primary electricity provider, responded to the crisis, informing customers through their communication channels of the interruption and their efforts to investigate and address the cause. The outage happened a day after BEL had announced a 5 day disconnection from Mexico’s Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) due to planned maintenance work on the interconnection between BEL’s transmission grid and CFE’s substation at Xulha. During this period, Belize had to rely solely on its local energy sources, which the utility assured would be sufficient.
BEL later announced that the cause of the blackout was due to a protective shield wire coming into contact with the transmission line in the Orange Walk District. The shield wire, intended to protect the transmission lines from lightning strikes, accidentally disrupted the power supply. Power was progressively restored across the country, with most districts having electricity returned around 2 a.m.
Source: Amandala
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