State Grid signs $1.3bn Venezuelan construction deal

China State Grid, the country’s largest power distributor, signed a US$1.31 billion deal with Venezuela’s National Electric to build power-transmission facilities in Caracas and other regions of the South American country, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing a State Grid announcement. The project would be China’s largest power-transmission venture in Venezuela by value and represents State Grid’s first overseas grid construction contract. The agreement was signed last week, roughly one month after the state-owned Chinese company bid US$936 million for seven high-voltage power-transmission assets in Brazil owned by Spanish construction firm Activadades de Construction y Servicios SA and its subsidiaries. The deal is subject to regulatory approval by China and Brazil and is likely to be completed in the fourth quarter, State Grid said.