Like most South American countries, Venezuela depends on
hydro-electricity for the bulk of its power needs. Now Venezuela has
over 23 GW of installed generating capacity, up from 22.1 GW in 2005.
Venezuela generates 100 bn kilowatthours (Bkwh), up from 99.2 Bkwh in
2005, and consumes 80 Bkwh (up from 73.4 Bkwh in 2005). The country
generates 79 Bkwh of hydro-power, up from 74.3 Bkwh in 2005.
Venezuela is a net exporter of electricity, with the majority of
exports sent to Brazil. Smaller amounts go to Colombia.
State-owned firms dominate the power sector. The largest is
Electrificacion del Caroni (EDELCA), a unit of the state-owned mining
firm Corporacion Venezolana de Guayana (CVG). EDELCA supplies around 75%
of Venezuela's power needs. There is a high degree of vertical
integration in the power sector, with the largest generating companies
also acting as the main distributors.
OPSIS is a state regulator of the sector and manages the national
transmission grid. In 2007 the state nationalised La Electricidad de
Caracas (EDC), which used to be majority-owned by AES of the US. EDC had
been the largest private electricity generator in Venezuela, supplying
around 10% of the country's power needs.
Hydro-electricity provides the bulk of Venezuela's power
supply. The Caroni River in Guayana state is the centre of the
country's hydro-power production. EDELCA operates the 8,900 MW Guri
(Raul Leoni) station of Caroni, the second-largest hydro-power plant in
the world, after Itaipu on the Paraguay/Brazil border (once fully
operational, China's Three Gorges Dam will be larger than both of
these). EDELCA also operates the 2,900 MW Macagua and the 2,200 MW
Caruachi plants in Caroni. EDELCA is building a fourth plant in Caroni,
the 2,200 MW Tocoma dam, with scheduled completion in 2010.
Natural gas powers around half of thermal power generation in
Venezuela, followed by fuel oil and diesel. There has been increasing
investment in thermal capacity as a means to reduce reliance on
hydro-power and utilise domestic hydrocarbon resources. The state-owned
Petroleos de Venezuela (PDVSA) in 2005 said it would spend $500m to
build three thermal plants in northern Venezuela. CADEFE is to build two
power plants at refineries: one at Puerto La Cruz, and the other at
Paraguana. In late 2004, CADEFE said it was studying the feasibility of
building Venezuela's first coal-fired plant, a 300 MW facility in
Tachira state, in co-operation with EnergoProm of Russia. Venezuela in
2006 produced 8.22m short tons of coal and consumed 0.08m tons.
Venezuela has 479m tons of anthracite and bituminous coal reserves.
Coal exports in recent years have averaged between 5m-5.7m t/yoe, up
from 2.9m t/yoe in 1993.
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