Venezuela Partners with General Electric to Enhance Electric Service

The Venezuelan government signed an agreement with General Electric to improve the country’s electricity service, which has been plagued by frequent blackouts. Critics blame these outages on issues related to generation capacity, inadequate maintenance, and poor management.

Delcy Rodríguez, the acting president of Venezuela, along with Eric Gray, the CEO of GE Vernova’s energy segment, attended the event at the Miraflores presidential palace. GE Vernova focuses on electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and storage. Rodríguez called the memorandum of understanding, after six weeks of collaborative work, a ‘historic step’ towards recovering a vital service for the nation.

She urged the teams to formalize the final contract promptly so the projects can start. The initial goal is to recover 1,000 megawatts within the first 24 months and over 5,000 megawatts in four years. The cost of the agreement was not disclosed.

Experts frequently note that daily failures in 23 states and Venezuela’s capital often result from poor administration leading to neglect of the national electric system. The infrastructure, especially thermoelectric plants that once served as backup during droughts or outages at the Gurí hydroelectric power plant, has deteriorated. At present, Venezuela faces a 3,000-megawatt deficit.

The agreement followed recent legal reforms since January that significantly reduced strict state control over the energy sector and opened it to foreign investment. These reforms prompted the U.S. Treasury Department to ease sanctions against Venezuela, expanding American and other international energy companies’ ability to operate there.

Following a U.S. military operation that led to the ousting and capture of former president Nicolás Maduro on January 3, Washington proposed a ‘three-phase’ roadmap. This plan focuses on stabilizing, recovering, and transitioning the country toward democracy.