Venezuela needs up to $40 billion to rebuild its power grid

Venezuela needs up to $40 billion to rebuild its power grid

Rebuilding Venezuela's power grid would cost between $15 billion and $40 billion. The work could take up to a decade. That is what Francisco Morandi said. He is a consultant and former global vice president of AES, an electric company. His comments were published by Brazil Journal, a media outlet from Brazil.

A power grid is the whole chain that brings electricity to people. It includes the plants that make the power, the towers and cables that carry it, and the network that delivers it to homes and factories. Morandi said this chain is badly damaged after more than twenty years without enough maintenance.

Why electricity is urgent now

Since the fall of Nicolas Maduro, international oil companies are returning to Venezuela. Pumping and refining oil uses a lot of electricity. So the oil comeback will need more power than the country has today.

Who would invest first

Morandi thinks the big traditional companies will not arrive first. In his view, the first movers would be:

• The oil companies themselves, such as Chevron.
• Independent United States firms, known as 'wildcatters', many of them tied to investment funds.
• Private equity groups, that is, funds that buy companies and improve them.

On that point, Morandi said: 'It is not an AES or an EDF that will come in now. It is whoever moves first. You go in today so that in a few years someone who sees the business more calmly will buy it.'

A same-day note on the banks

On September 16, Bloomberg Linea and Gestion reported another fact. Venezuela's central bank restricted bank liquidity. Bank liquidity is the money a bank has available to lend. By shrinking that money, the authority aims to support the bolivar, the country's currency.

Venezuelan economists consider the measure insufficient. They say it is not enough on its own if it does not come with a full economic plan.

Fuentes: Brazil Journal (Brasil), Bloomberg Linea y Gestion (Latinoamerica). 16 de septiembre de 2026.