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The National Workshop for Energy Information Management and the Implementation of the Energy Information System of Belize was successfully completed this March 27 to 30, 2017. The event was held between the Latin American Energy Organization (OLADE) and the Energy Division of the Ministry of Energy, Science and Technology and Public Utilities (MPSEPU) of Belize, thanks to the funding from the Government of Canada.
The Information Management and Training Coordinator (MSc. Paola Carrera), and the Caribbean Energy Specialist (MSc. Carlos Andrade) were the officials responsible for the training and moderation to the participants regarding the SIE – Belize managing computer tool. They were also in charge of guiding the trainees on several practical exercises in handling statistical data based on processing methodologies for energy balances, inventories of greenhouse gasses and energy indicators. In this sense, it was possible to develop an interactive workshop with 30 participants from major public and private energy companies in Belize. The event was attended by representatives of the Office of the Prime Minister of the Energy Division of MPSEPU, the Hydrocarbons Division of the Ministry of Natural Resources of the Central Office of Information CITO, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Department of Transportation, Customs, National Climate Change Office, the Bureau of Standards, the Japa International Cooperation Agency JICA and other private entities in the energy sector of Belize, namely: + Bowen Bowen, Belize Electricity Limited BEL, Belize Sugar Industries BSI-BelCogen, Belize Natural Energy Limited BNE, BelTrade, Southern Choice Butane among others.
During the event, the participants were able to understand the importance of collecting energy statistics in a timely, comprehensive and consistent manner in order to produce energy balances, inventory of greenhouse gases, indicators of sustainable energy development and administration and management of the Energy Information System of Belize, which is the basic tool for energy planning in the country. In addition, several presentations were made to show the current state of the energy system of the country and demonstrate the importance of implementing methodologies and tools proposed by OLADE.
Among the presentations, it was exposed the current situation and future projects in the oil, electricity and renewable energy sectors.
Mr. Ambrosse Tillett, Head of the Energy Division of the MPSEPU stressed the importance of tools such as the SIE-Belize to store and process various types of energy information (statistical and documentary), in order to facilitate the tasks entrusted to the control entities of this sector. One of the characteristics of the Energy Information System (SIE) is to store, process and validate statistical information for each activity in the energy chain, generation of energy balances for the country, estimating inventories of greenhouse gasses and calculation of sustainability indicators for energy experts’ analysis.
The SIE-Belize allows the interactive communication with all stakeholders in the energy sector appointed by the MSET, and it`s expected to be widely used by different Belizean energy information providers who supply monthly and annual information to the Ministry. This process will optimize a reliable, consistent, complete and validated energy statistics that meet with international standards and promote effective decision-making in this sector. Finally, Dr. Peter Allen, CEO of the Ministry of Public Service, Energy, and Infrastructure of Belize, publicly thanked OLADE in the media for its support.