BEL explains Wednesday night’s widespread power outage

Six districts experienced power outage late Wednesday night with restoration within four hours.  Today, the Belize Electricity Limited (BEL) explained that the outage was unexpected, and had interrupted power in every district except Corozal. The outage occurred at around eleven o’clock Wednesday night, and it was found to be due to the protective shield wire coming in contact with the transmission line in Orange Walk. The shield wire serves the function of protecting the transmission line from lightning strikes.  According to BEL, they utilized local and renewable energy sources to restore power to the national grid. Power was restored to the Stann Creek and Toledo Districts at approximately 12:00 a.m. and to the rest of the country by 2:19 a.m. on Thursday, February 8, 2024.  After power was restored to the entire country, an emergency power outage was conducted for the Orange Walk District from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. on Thursday, February 8, 2024, to allow BEL team to repair the lightning protective equipment on the transmission line.