Venezuela signed an agreement with Argentina’s Impsa SA to complete work at the long-stalled Tocoma hydroelectric dam and help restore the country’s deteriorating power grid.
Impsa will help “complete the Tocoma Hydroelectric Plant and advance work on the National Electric System, which will add 2,640 megawatts to the country’s grid,” Venezuela’s presidential office said in a statement posted on Telegram Saturday.
The agreement follows talks between Impsa and Venezuela’s government to resume work at the Tocoma and Macagua dams, projects that began in the mid-2000s but stalled amid the country’s economic crisis.
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Impsa Chief Executive Officer Jorge Salcedo said the company plans to initially add 672 megawatts of capacity by repairing turbines at Macagua and installing units at Tocoma. A second phase would contribute another 1,968 megawatts.
The deal marks one of the most significant efforts in years to restore Venezuela’s electricity system, which has suffered from decades of underinvestment and remains prone to daily outages across much of the country.