Venezuela signs agreement with General Electric to modernize power grid

Venezuela's interim president Delcy Rodríguez announced that the government has signed an agreement with U.S. company General Electric to upgrade the country's ageing electricity network. The plan calls for restoring about 1,000 MW of capacity within the first 24 months and more than 5,000 MW over a four‑year period.

Current generation stands at roughly 12,000 MW while daily consumption reaches 14,000 MW, hitting a nine‑year high of 15,579 MW on 7 May. Frequent outages lasting up to ten hours affect much of the nation, including the capital Caracas. The deal follows a series of energy‑sector reforms that aim to reverse the 2007 nationalisation that barred foreign firms, and it coincides with increased U.S. pressure after the kidnapping of former president Nicolás Maduro. GE will conduct detailed upgrades to generation, transmission and distribution infrastructure, marking what Rodríguez called a “historic step” for Venezuela’s power sector.