Belize has Latin America’s smallest economy, with tourism and commodities exports as its primary industries. In 2016, 55% of its 155MW domestic grid capacity was represented by small hydro and biomass and waste power. Belize relies on imported power from Mexico to meet its electricity demand. Around 40% of the electricity the nation consumes every year comes from the neighbor country.

The Belize electricity market is controlled by Belize Electricity Limited (BEL), the sole transmission and distribution company. In 2016, most domestic power was generated by independent power producers and sold to BEL. In 2012, the government established the Ministry of Energy, Science & Technology and Public Utilities to integrate energy, science and technology into national development planning and decision-making. The Public Utilities Commission (PUC) regulates all entities involved in the generation and supply of electricity and oversees rates and regulation.

In 2015, oil and diesel accounted for 68.5MW of total capacity, followed by small hydro (54.3MW), biomass and waste (31.5MW) and solar (0.5MW). The national electricity grid is connected to Mexico’s. BEL’s supply from Mexico’s national utility Comisión Federal de Electricidad is constrained by the capacity of the 115kV transmission line linking the two national systems.

In 2011, the government released its National Energy Policy (NEP), which set goals to foster sustainable production and distribution of energy, minimize the cost of energy in the local economy, mitigate the impacts of external shocks and create a national culture of energy efficiency.

On October 1, 2015, the government of Belize submitted its Intended Nationally Determined Contribution (INDC) to the United Nations, in which it committed to increase the share of renewable energy in its electricity mix by 85% by 2027. It also committed to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 62% compared with a business-as-usual scenario. The contribution will be conducted through Belize’s Sustainable Energy Action Plan 2014–2033, which aims to reduce the country’s greenhouse gas emissions and improve energy efficiency and conservation.

Belize held its first tender in 2013. It aimed to contract 75MW of power, of which 60MW was open to bidders across all energy sources, while 15MW was reserved exclusively for solar and wind. By June 2014, PUC had received 22 bid submissions, and 20 were approved for the next step. On March 6, 2015, PUC chose a few projects for further negotiations. Among these were two small hydro projects, with a combined capacity of 21.8MW. As of May 2017, there was no further information about whether contracts had been signed between BEL and the respective bidders.