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Belize's three major hydroelectric dams are almost running on empty - and if no rains fall within the next two weeks - we could be facing another round of major load shedding.
BEL's chairman Andrew Marshalleck today confirmed that at present, the Fortis Dams in the Cayo District have, at best, 3 weeks supply of water left in their reservoir.
And while the reservoirs always run low in the dry season - this year it is even lower because of the lack of rain and the heavy reliance on hydro power when power supplies ran low this month.
So, right now, a capacity shortage is again staring Belize in the face - and this time - it stands to be a lot worse. That's because the dams supply the grid with close to 50 megawatts of power, almost twice what the recently upgraded gas turbine supplies. And we saw what happened when the gas turbine was down!
So, the only thing that can save us from another round of even deeper load shedding in the next few weeks is rain.
So, will it come? The Chief Met Officer Ronald Gordon told us today one model continues to show an increase in moisture starting next week Thursday into the June first weekend. But he cautioned that long range forecasts such as these carry a lot of uncertainty. So, pray for rain, but don't bet on it.
