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#137000 05/18/03 07:11 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
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pauluk Offline OP
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Just wondering if we have anyone here who has worked in, or even just visisted the central American country of Belize?

(Formerly British Honduras)

#137001 05/18/03 05:06 PM
Joined: Sep 2002
Posts: 1,498
Likes: 1
C
C-H Offline
Member
I haven't been anywhere near Belize, but I had a look around on the net to check that the info in my database isn't wrong.

Despite it being an old British colony, it uses a 60Hz system and the country buys much of it's power from Mexico.

It seems like they use the US system, but I haven't found any references to wiring methods.

#137002 05/19/03 10:41 AM
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 1,691
S
Member
Found this from the Belize international financial services commision:
http://www.ifsc.gov.bz/belize.html

Quote
Electric Power: Belize Electricity Limited; Voltage 110 Volts, Optional 220 Volts; Cost of Kwh: Bz$ 0.38(US$0.19). Type of Generating: Diesel. Continuity: 90% - 95%. Industrial Rate is available.

Here is additional info from the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (Ministere des Affaires Etrangeres et du Commerce international):
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca/latinamerica/belizeexport-en.asp

Quote
Electricity/Voltage

Belize Electricity Ltd. (BEL) is the main supplier of electricity. Domestic electricity is supplied at 110/220 volts two or three wire single phase service, and 220 or 440 volts four wire 3-phase service, all at 60 HZ.

[This message has been edited by SvenNYC (edited 05-19-2003).]

#137003 05/19/03 11:48 AM
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C-H Offline
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Damn, Sven, you're even better than me at scouting the Internet. [Linked Image]

Wonder how the 220 and 440V four wire 3-phase services are set up: Wye/delta?

90% continuity sounds good, but means that you could be out of power for two hours a day.

#137004 05/20/03 07:05 AM
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pauluk Offline OP
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I knew about the U.S.-style 120/240 3-wire domestic services, but the 3-phase commercial system sounds fascinating.

If it's really 220 and 440V, then maybe it's an adaptation of the American 4-wire delta, with voltages raised?

Bearing in mind though that these reference sources are often a little less than accurate, I'm wondering if somebody has mixed up the voltage levels and it's really a straight 4-wire wye system at 230/400 or thereabouts. The 440 designation was the standard specified level for the highest nominal voltage system in the U.K. before standardization: 250/440V.

Anyway, why was I asking? [Linked Image]

Well, I actually stumbled upon some information on Belize while browsing for real estate, and the place looks quite intriguing.

Real estate listings.

Very easy residency requirements, and much lower taxes than in this part of the world. Might need a battery bank and inverters for those power outages though!

#137005 05/20/03 09:20 AM
Joined: Sep 2002
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C-H Offline
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The difficult part is choosing between Beach front, Lagoon front or an Island property [Linked Image]

#137006 05/20/03 10:23 AM
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C-H Offline
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Quote

I'm wondering if somebody has mixed up the voltage levels and it's really a straight 4-wire wye system at 230/400 or thereabouts. The 440 designation was the standard specified level for the highest nominal voltage system in the U.K. before standardization: 250/440V.

Or the 440V is the US 480V system...

[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 05-20-2003).]

#137007 05/20/03 01:31 PM
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 2,527
B
Moderator
Based on Guatemala and Mexico as neighbors, there may be 110/220 1ø3W or 127/220 3ø4w, but that's only a guess.

#137008 05/22/03 08:23 AM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
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pauluk Offline OP
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Found these clips at www.BelizeNorth.com :
Quote
Electricity is provided by BEL -- Belize Electric, Limited. BEL was recently privatized, and now they are pushing a dam -- the Chililo Project -- which will provide more electricity and "free Belize from outside power sources." In fact, BEL is mostly owned by Canadian interests, and the dam will be built by a Canadian firm, and it will not come close to freeing Belize from outside power sources. Most of the electricity here comes from a big power plant up close to Merida in Mexico. They shut down the power about once a week for ??maintenance?? usually on Sunday Morning, for a couple of hours. (Sometimes Saturday)

With power imported from May-Hee-Co, I guess it made sense to adopt a 60Hz system.

Quote
Power here is 110 Volt, 60 Hertz, and some towns even have three phase. It is very expensive (over 15 cents for a kilowatt/hour which cost 6 cents in Colorado) and not very reliable. We have an outage every couple of days. Sometimes it comes right back on, but sometimes it’s off for an hour or two. The power comes from Mexico, which does not reassure me, since I know that Y2K projects in Mexico are all 9-24 months behind. We do have our own generating plant here in Corozal, but they shut it down because fuel oil was so expensive. Of course, those oil prices are down now but getting them to reconsider will be difficult. Even so, the average household electric bill is pretty low. We just got our bill, very high by Belizean standards, and it was 49 dollah.

BZ $1 = U.S. 50 cents.

)


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