March 18, 2025
IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is supporting the Government of Belize in attracting a private investor to build a utility-scale solar plant aimed at improving the country’s energy security and affordability for about 20,000 households while also boosting business competitiveness.
The project, part of the government’s efforts to increase renewable energy generation capacity by 75% by 2030, is Belize’s first public-private partnership (PPP) in the energy sector. IFC will act as the Lead Transaction Advisor, helping structure and implement an open and competitive tender to identify an operator to construct the plant with photovoltaic panels with a capacity of 50 to 80 megawatts (MW) by 2027.
“The reliance on electricity and fossil fuel imports and the severity of climate-related events have led to volatile energy prices, which impacts tariff affordability for the population and business competitiveness and affects energy security,” said Christopher Coye, Belize’s Minister of State in the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development & Investment. “This project will help us develop clean energy resources and strengthen the climate resilience of our country’s electricity system.”
Ronke-Amoni Ogunsulire, IFC’s Regional Manager for the Caribbean, emphasized that this initiative could serve as a valuable model for future renewable energy projects in Belize. “This project marks a crucial advancement toward Belize’s renewable energy targets and aligns with the country’s ambition to boost its solar capacity from less than 1 MW to an impressive 180 MW by 2042. Additionally, it is expected to draw private sector investments, which will subsequently foster job creation for the local workforce.”
The project, which will help reduce the outflow of foreign exchange for energy import payments and increase energy security and reliability for Belizeans, is the result of collaboration between the Government of Belize, the World Bank Group —in addition to IFC acting as the Lead Transaction Advisor, the World Bank will fund the acquisition and deployment of a 40 MW Battery Energy Storage System project to enable the integration of renewable energy onto the grid— and the Government of Japan, which is providing a grant to fund consultants and implementation. This arrangement will enable increasing the country’s energy security and affordability with limited fiscal impact on the Government of Belize.