Venezuela is beginning to show the first concrete signs of opening up its electricity sector. Just days after the National Assembly moved forward with a legal reform to allow greater private participation in electricity generation, transmission, distribution, and marketing, the company IMPSA signed an agreement with the Ministry of Electric Power and Corpoelec to rehabilitate strategic hydroelectric infrastructure.
The political significance is not insignificant: the announcement was made by Delcy Rodríguez herself, the interim president of Venezuela, who presented the agreement with the Argentine company as a “historic” step to complete the Tocoma Hydroelectric Plant and strengthen the National Electric System.
The deal positions IMPSA as one of the first foreign companies to take advantage of the new Venezuelan context. And it does so with a distinctive element: its current management is strongly linked to Venezuela, starting with its president, Jorge Salcedo Hernández, a Venezuelan lawyer with experience in the United States and Latin America.
The agreement: to recover 672 MW in 19 months and move towards 2640 MW in five years
The agreement between IMPSA, the Ministry of Electric Power and Corpoelec aims to rehabilitate the Macagua and Tocoma hydroelectric plants, two key assets for Venezuela's electrical infrastructure.
According to Jorge Salcedo himself, as reported on LinkedIn, IMPSA will contribute experience, engineering and technology to recover an initial goal of 672 MW of generation capacity within 19 months.
The broader plan could provide up to 2,640 MW of hydroelectric capacity over the next five years: 2,160 MW in Tocoma and 480 MW in Macagua.
The agreement revives a contract signed more than a decade ago between IMPSA and Corpoelec that had been left unexecuted due to payment problems and sanctions.
Under a US license granted this year, the company is seeking to move forward with a contractual addendum to export and install hydraulic turbines and mechanical equipment.
Tocoma and Macagua: why they are key for Venezuela
Tocoma, also known as Manuel Piar, was conceived as one of the major hydroelectric plants in the Caroní River complex. The project aims to add more than 2,000 MW of capacity through ten generating units.
Its completion would be crucial for an electrical system that operates with deficits, rationing, and frequent outages. The possibility of launching the first stages within 14 to 19 months makes the project particularly attractive for a country that needs effective capacity in the short term.
Macagua, on the other hand, represents a different strategy: recovering existing capacity. According to Reuters, the first two 80 MW units could return to service between 90 and 100 days after the signing of the contract addendum.
The combination of Tocoma and Macagua allows the agreement to be read in two stages: rapid recovery of available capacity and gradual development of new hydroelectric power.
Delcy Rodríguez's announcement: a political signal to the market
Delcy Rodríguez's prominent role in the announcement gives the agreement a dimension that goes beyond the technical aspects.
Venezuela seeks to show that the opening of the electricity sector is not just a matter of legislative debate, but is beginning to translate into agreements with companies capable of providing technology, equipment and implementation.
The image of Rodríguez announcing the agreement with IMPSA serves as a direct signal to the market: the Government wants to accelerate the recovery of critical infrastructure and show that there are private partners willing to enter a sector historically dominated by the State.
The opportunity is critical. The electricity supply has become one of Venezuela's main structural problems, with impacts on daily life, water, telecommunications, industrial activity, and the confidence of potential investors.
The electricity reform opens the door to private and mixed companies
The agreement with IMPSA comes after the National Assembly gave initial approval to a reform of the Organic Law of the Electric System and Service.
The project seeks to open the electricity sector to private investment and allow the creation of joint ventures after almost two decades of state control.
The proposal enables the participation of the State, mixed companies with a state majority, companies with minority state participation and private firms in the generation, transmission, distribution and marketing of electricity.
The text also stipulates that joint ventures may have concessions of up to 25 years, with the possibility of extension for up to an additional 15 years.
If definitively approved, the reform would imply a structural change with respect to the scheme established after the nationalization of the electricity sector in 2007 and the 2010 law, which reserved the main activities of the electricity system for the State.
Generation deficit and urgent need for investment
The reform does not exist in a vacuum. Venezuela faces a persistent electricity crisis due to a lack of investment, insufficient maintenance, deteriorating networks, and low availability of generating units.
The lack of reliable supply is causing doubts among investors about the possibility of moving forward with productive projects.
Added to this is the local information shared about the generation deficit: Venezuelan electricity demand would have exceeded 15000 MW, while the generation gap is around 2000 MW, a volume equivalent to the consumption of the entire Greater Caracas.
This data explains why hydroelectricity is back at the forefront of the agenda. Before scaling up new solar or wind farms or hybrid solutions, Venezuela needs to restore firm capacity and operational reliability in existing or partially completed assets.
The IMPSA factor: an Argentine company with Venezuelan management
One of the most relevant elements of the operation is the composition of IMPSA's management.
The company, historically associated with the Argentine technology industry and the Pescarmona family, is going through a new stage under the control of Industrial Acquisitions Fund LLC —IAF—, after its privatization and financial restructuring.
According to IMPSA's institutional information, the Executive Committee is composed of Jorge Salcedo Hernández as president, Juan Manuel Domínguez as vice president, and Freddy Bálsera as director.
They are joined by a management team consisting of Pablo Magistocchi as country manager, Juan Ramón Carvallo as director and head of business in the United States, Mario Croce as commercial director and Mario Scarpa as operations director.
The political and business relevance lies in the fact that the president of IMPSA is Venezuelan and other names in the new management have direct links with Latin America, the United States and the world of institutional communication, business and corporate diplomacy.
Jorge Salcedo, the Venezuelan president of IMPSA
Jorge Salcedo Hernández appears as a central figure in this operation.
According to his professional profile, he is president of IMPSA, Of Counsel at Ferrari & Associates PC, and founder of Salcedo Attorneys at Law PC
His education combines Venezuela and the United States: he studied at Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola, graduated as a lawyer from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello, and obtained a Juris Doctor from Nova Southeastern University Shepard Broad College of Law in Florida.
IMPSA's institutional website also presents him as Managing Partner of Industrial Acquisitions Fund LLC.
It is highlighted there that in 2025 he led the acquisition and privatization of IMPSA, boosting its strategic repositioning in the manufacture of nuclear components for the US and Argentine markets.
Under his leadership, the company completed the restructuring of approximately USD 583 million of inherited debt, restoring its financial stability and positioning it for a new stage of international growth.
His nationality and track record add a particular dimension to the agreement with Venezuela. IMPSA is arriving in the country not only as an Argentine company with hydroelectric experience, but also with a Venezuelan president who is familiar with the local institutional, regulatory, and political environment.
In a market where dialogue with the State, contractual guarantees and payment negotiation will be as relevant as technical capacity, that factor can become a competitive advantage.
Juan Manuel Domínguez and Freddy Bálsera: politics, communication and business
IMPSA's management also includes profiles linked to institutional strategy and international expansion.
Juan Manuel Domínguez, the company's vice president and director of Industrial Acquisitions Fund LLC, was part of the team that led the acquisition of IMPSA and the strategic negotiations with the Argentine government during the privatization process. According to the company's institutional information, in his role he drives IMPSA's political, institutional, and new business agenda in Argentina, the United States, and Latin America.
Domínguez is the founder of YAP and YAP Sports, a partner at Balsera Communications for Latin America, a board member of GCDI, and director of the Buenos Aires chapter of the Argentine-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida. He is also involved in the regional expansion of Newsweek in Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay.
Freddy Bálsera, meanwhile, is a director of IMPSA and founder and CEO of Balsera Communications. The company describes him as a businessman and communications strategist with extensive experience in the United States, advising corporations, financial institutions, political organizations, and unions on positioning campaigns and public affairs.
Operational management: the technical and industrial leg
Along with the executive committee, IMPSA maintains an operational management team with profiles focused on industrial and commercial execution.
Pablo Magistocchi is listed as country manager. Juan Ramón Carvallo is listed as director and head of business in the United States. Mario Croce holds the position of commercial director, while Mario Scarpa is operations director.
That team will be key to transforming the political and institutional agreement into work, logistics, engineering, assembly and commissioning.
In the Venezuelan case, the operational challenge will be no less: part of Tocoma's equipment is stored in Mendoza, there are also components in other countries, and the project will require inventory, technological upgrades, export, assembly, permits, financing and coordination with Corpoelec.
IMPSA seeks to reposition itself after its restructuring
The deal with Venezuela also comes at a crucial time for IMPSA.
In May 2026, the company reported that the Second Court of Bankruptcy Proceedings of Mendoza approved its Extrajudicial Preventive Agreement —APE—, a key step within the financial restructuring process.
The approval allowed progress to be made with the debt swap planned in the agreement approved by the creditors and backed by Industrial Acquisitions Fund LLC, the controlling shareholder of IMPSA.
The company seeks to recover its productive and technological capacity, and strengthen its international position in hydro, nuclear, port cranes and renewable energies.
With over 115 years of experience, IMPSA has installed more than 200 hydroelectric turbines and over 300 port cranes in various markets worldwide. Furthermore, it reports an installed capacity exceeding 50,000 MW globally and more than 50 years of experience in the nuclear and oil & gas sectors.
In this context, Venezuela could become a test case for the company's new stage.
The litmus test: payments, guarantees, and legal security
The main question remains the same: how will the agreements be financed and guaranteed?
Reuters reported that the parties were discussing legal aspects and payment terms. It also reported that Caracas and Washington were discussing a possible release of Venezuelan funds held abroad, which could facilitate part of the process.
The challenge is critical because Venezuela has been grappling with years of financial constraints, sanctions, institutional decay, and difficulties in ensuring payments to suppliers. The electricity reform itself implicitly acknowledges that the state lacks the capacity to single-handedly restore the system's infrastructure.
For investors, the IMPSA case will be viewed as an early indicator. If the agreement moves forward, it could demonstrate that Venezuela's new opening is capable of producing enforceable contracts. If it stalls, it would confirm fears about contractual risk, payments, and regulatory continuity.