The Guri reservoir, the largest in Venezuela, home to the Simón Bolívar hydroelectric plant. Photo: Cirofono.
Guacamaya, February 24, 2025. On February 15, Brazil resumed importing electricity from Venezuela to supply the northern state of Roraima, according to Reuters.
This would be the first time since 2019, when the power supply between hydroelectric plants in Venezuela’s Bolívar state and its neighboring country was cut off.
The state of Roraima is not connected to Brazil’s national power grid, so it has relied on Venezuelan electricity generation and, in its absence, on thermoelectric plants using fossil fuels.
Brasília authorized the company Bolt Energy to import electricity at a price of 1,096.11 reais (192.49 dollars) per megawatt-hour (MWh). The rate will be valid from January to April of this year.
Venezuela reportedly generated an average of 82 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2022, according to the International Energy Agency. 78% of this came from hydroelectric plants, 15% from natural gas, and 7% from oil. Solar and wind generation accounted for less than 1%.
In 2019, then-Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro severed all relations with the government of Nicolás Maduro. That year also saw a nationwide blackout amid Venezuela’s electricity crisis.
With the arrival of Luiz Inácio “Lula” da Silva, not only have diplomatic relations been reopened, but several Brazilian companies have shown interest in Venezuela, particularly in the oil sector.
