Holbox, Q.R. — By the end of the year, Holbox should be connected to the country’s National Electric System. “In 2022 CFE Distribución will replace the submarine cable between Isla Mujeres and Cancún. It will also connect to Holbox Island,” the company said in a statement.
Although CFE reported attending to the Sunday evening blackout within three hours, it was nearly 72 hours before the entire island was reconnected.
After being without power and water for 48 hours, a group of approximately 100 residents on the same power grid voiced their frustration. Shortly afterward, power was finally fully restored to the island.
According to CFE, around 1,400 people on the island of Holbox were affected by the power outage. The company reported installing emergency power plants the next morning to restore as much of the electric flow as possible.
An additional 12 plants were installed hours later after they were located in various areas of Riviera Maya and Chetumal.
Eight hours later “personnel installed 12 emergency plants for the restoration of 187 users and the remaining 177 people remained pending until we had notice of availability by generation,” CFE reported.
The next day, at 5:30 a.m. another “165 people were reestablished through another generation unit,” they added. The entire island was fully restored late Tuesday afternoon.
In May of this year, the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) released a statement detailing projects. In those details, the CFE reported objectives that include “an increase in operational efficiency in networks and remote operation and automation in general distribution networks.”
Both the islands of Holbox and Isla Mujeres were on that objective list. For Holbox, the CFE had set an end-of-year goal for island connection and for Isla Mujeres, submarine cable replacement.