Venezuela and GE strike deal to restore 5,000 MW to collapsing grid

Venezuela and General Electric on Tuesday announced a landmark agreement to overhaul the country’s collapsing electricity grid, pledging to restore 5,000 megawatts of lost capacity within four years as chronic blackouts paralyse daily life across most of the nation. The deal, confirmed by multiple outlets on 16 June 2026, marks the first major infrastructure partnership between Caracas and a U.S. industrial giant since the onset of the chavista era and comes amid mounting pressure to end power cuts that can stretch for hours.

Under the pact, General Electric will supply turbines, transformers and digital grid-management systems to rehabilitate Venezuela’s thermal and hydroelectric plants, which have seen output plummet in recent decades. The 5,000 MW target—roughly half of the country’s pre-2000 peak—would still leave Venezuela below its historic maximum, but officials say it would cut nationwide outages by more than two-thirds if fully delivered. “This is not a magic solution, but it is the first credible step toward ending the daily suffering of millions,” said Energy Minister Luis Reyes, quoted by Greek daily *Proto Thema* .

The accord follows years of failed attempts to revive Venezuela’s grid, which successive governments have blamed on U.S. sanctions, corruption and underinvestment. Production has fallen from roughly 12,000 MW in 1998 to an estimated 7,000 MW today, according to French newspaper *Le Monde* . Rolling blackouts now affect 80 % of the country, disrupting hospitals, water pumps and food distribution networks. “The grid is a relic of the 1970s,” said an engineer at Caracas’s Simón Bolívar University who requested anonymity. “Even basic maintenance has been deferred for a generation.”

General Electric will finance part of the project through export credits and expects to begin deliveries within 18 months, though analysts warn that Venezuela’s chronic fuel shortages and bureaucratic hurdles could delay implementation. Opposition lawmakers have already questioned whether the deal will survive potential political upheaval, given the government’s fragile majority in parliament.

The announcement overshadows a separate infrastructure crisis in Germany, where Wiesbaden’s Hessian State Theatre remains mired in planning limbo after a quarter-century of warnings about its structural decay. The theatre’s long-delayed renovation, repeatedly postponed due to funding disputes and heritage restrictions, is now projected to cost €180 million and is unlikely to start before 2028, the *Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung* reported .