Venezuela’s government and the local branch of US conglomerate General Electric (GE) have signed a memorandum of understanding to upgrade the country’s power grid, state TV reported.

 Interim President Delcy Rodriguez said officials would formalise the deal urgently, targeting 1 GW of new capacity within 24 months and over 5 gigawatts in four years.

"This is ‌a ⁠historic step for Venezuela, enabling us to restore a service as essential to the ​life of ​a ⁠country as its electricity supply," she said in ​an announcement, speaking alongside ​the ⁠head of GE Vernova's power segment, Eric Gray.