Story perspectives

Venezuela's Corpoelec, GE Vernova Aim 1,000 MW in 2 Years

6/17/2026

Summary

Story summary

Corpoelec and GE Vernova signed a memorandum of understanding at Miraflores palace, witnessed by U.S. embassy chargé d’affaires John Barrett.
Recent electricity-law reforms allow foreign concessions of up to 25 years in generation, transmission and distribution.
The agreement targets restoring 1,000 MW within 24 months and more than 5,000 MW over four years.
Daily blackouts now last three to twelve hours in Zulia, Táchira and Caracas, which faces growing fluctuations.

History

Historical Context

In 2009, Venezuela suffered a nationwide electricity crisis when drought crippled hydro plants, leaving major cities in rolling blackouts. The outage unfolded while the global economy was emerging from the 2009 recession, heightening the country's vulnerability. Today, state utility Corpoelec and U.S. firm GE Vernova signed a memorandum at Miraflores to modernize the grid.

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Story summary

Corpoelec and GE Vernova signed a memorandum of understanding at Miraflores palace, witnessed by U.S. embassy chargé d’affaires John Barrett.
Recent electricity-law reforms allow foreign concessions of up to 25 years in generation, transmission and distribution.
The agreement targets restoring 1,000 MW within 24 months and more than 5,000 MW over four years.
Daily blackouts now last three to twelve hours in Zulia, Táchira and Caracas, which faces growing fluctuations.

1 / 2