Belize Electric Company (BECOL) has announced that construction of the Chalillo Hydroelectric project is substantially complete and electricity is now being generated at the 7.3MW facility.

The US$30M Chalillo Hydroelectric project is a storage and generating plant which will increase average annual energy production from the Macal river by approximately 80GWh to 160 GWh/yr.

BECOL, a subsidiary of Fortis, has built the Chalillo dam upstream from the existing dam it owns and operates on the Macal river, the 25MW Mollejon hydroelectric facility – the only other hydroelectric power plant in Belize.

‘Energy produced at the Chalillo facility will provide the cheapest electricity in Belize and will provide a number of significant, long-term benefits for customers of Belize Electricity and for the country,’ said Stan Marshall, President and Chief Executive Officer of Fortis.

Belize is a small nation on the eastern coast of Central America, on the Caribbean Sea.