The Simón Bolívar hydroelectric complex at Guri, one of the largest facilities in Latin America with 20 turbines and 10,350 MW nominal capacity, carries the system’s weight. Six turbines are offline and the remaining 14 deliver approximately 6,240 MW, giving Guri 60 percent availability while supplying 49 percent of national electricity. Aguilar notes that even operating units run with overdue maintenance, accelerating wear and reducing efficiency. Combined with the Caruachi and Macagua plants, the lower Caroní basin provides 9,940 MW, representing 78 percent of Venezuela’s electricity. Including Andean facilities, the matrix stands at 81 percent hydroelectric and 19 percent thermal.
Thermal plants designed as backup to hydroelectric generation have degraded to critical unavailability. Aguilar attributes the collapse to corruption, operational negligence, insufficient maintenance, fuel shortages, poor fuel quality and loss of trained personnel through retirement and emigration. The thermal shortfall forces the system to operate outside safe limits, causing voltage fluctuations known locally as “bajones” that precede broader outages. Aguilar states the government has concealed or manipulated system data for 191 consecutive months, an unprecedented practice that leaves the crisis dimension obscured.
Economic consultancy Ecoanalítica projects power deficits will persist for five years, forming the primary constraint on economic recovery. Survey data shows 70 percent of enterprises rate electricity service negatively, with industrial facilities reporting 214 hours without power during the second quarter of 2026 alone.
This article was curated and published as part of our South American energy market coverage.
