GOB Signs US$77 Million Loan Agreement for Solar Energy Plant
A loan agreement for seventy-seven million U.S. dollars was signed this afternoon by the Briceño administration and the Chief Executive Officer for the Saudi Fund for Development. The funds will be used for the construction of a sixty megawatt solar energy plant in Belize, along with investment in battery energy storage, as well as the supply and installation of solar panels to help reduce emissions from the energy sector. Belize’s energy dependence has long been a concern, since the country only generates roughly sixty percent of the energy it consumes. Prime Minister John Briceño was on hand for the signing of the loan agreement with Sultan Al-Marshad.
Prime Minister John Briceño
Prime Minister John Briceño
“We just signed a loan for, I think it was seventy-seven million dollars and that will allow us to be able to set up a solar plant for sixty megawatts. As you all know, because the economy has been growing so fast, the energy consumption also is increasing and we are going to soon max out what we have. That is one part, the second part is that also Mexico is having problems with energy. Presently, we produce sustainably sixty-one percent through renewable sources of energy, sixty-one percent, and we want to go to a hundred percent and solar is one of those ways. So this investment will help us to get towards that one hundred percent, and secondly, it will take us towards being fully energy independent and that is why we felt that this loan is very important for us. It is a loan that we’ll pay only two percent per annum and I think it’s going to be paid over thirty years, so it is a big win for Belizeans.”
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