The Mexican president announced on Tuesday that the neighboring country of Belize is being “helped” with electricity, despite the consumption peaks that have been seen in the country and that have caused blackouts. This month, at least 15 states of the Republic suffered moments without electricity, due to two factors: a lack of installed capacity of the state electricity company and stronger heat than expected during this time of year.
“We just had a meeting with the Prime Minister of Belize and there is an agreement with them to also help them with electricity, even with this special situation due to the heat. The agreement to help them so that they do not lack electricity will be fulfilled in the case of Belize, they are sister nations. We are neighbors and we have to help each other,” López Obrador said in a morning conference from the National Palace. The announcement comes two weeks after Foreign Minister Alicia Bárcena said that the country has “the possibility, and also the will, to sell electricity to Guatemala, as well as to Belize.”
Under his Administration, López Obrador closed the door to private companies that sought to generate electricity to offer it on the open market, as stipulated in the energy reform of the previous president, Enrique Peña Nieto. Experts warn that this limited the installed generation capacity. The country lacks “redundancy” in the generation system, which refers to the capacity that is used only at times of consumption above average as a backup in the system.
Authorities, including López Obrador, explained that the electricity deficit was due to failures in some generating plants. The general director of CFE, Manuel Bartlett, assured last week that the problem had been “resolved.”
On May 12, the National Energy Control Center (Cenace) declared an alert in the National Interconnected System (SIN) for the fifth consecutive time, ordering blackouts in some states of the Republic. About 15 states have suffered from intermittent electricity supply this month, where the consumption of air conditioning and refrigeration is very high due to high temperatures.
Subscribe to the EL PAÍS Mexico newsletter and to whatsapp channel and receive all the key information on current events in this country.
#Mexico #sells #electricity #Belize #blackouts #home