Three years on, $77 million Saudi solar loan yet to break ground

By Breaking Belize News Staff (HP): A US$77 million loan from the Saudi Fund for Development, signed in August 2023 to build a 60 megawatt solar plant in Belize, has still not produced a project on the ground.

Nearly three years after the agreement was signed, Minister of Public Utilities Michel Chebat says the plan is being restructured to include battery storage.

“There is some discussion about a little bit of reconstructing it, because we are looking at eighty solar, that was intended for sixty solar,” Chebat said. “I think we are now looking at battery, forty and twenty. So we are combining it with solar and battery as opposed to just solar.”

The revised approach would create a hybrid system, with generation capacity paired with storage to improve reliability.

“But, we expect that to come on stream as well,” the minister added.

The original agreement was framed as a step toward energy independence, reducing reliance on imported energy, cutting exposure to fluctuating global fuel prices, and creating jobs.

Chebat maintains the investment remains key to strengthening Belize’s long term energy security and renewable capacity.

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