Workers’ Control Grows In Venezuela’s Energy Sector

[The Vegan Marxist]

Workers’ Control Grows In Venezuela’s Energy Sector
By EDWARD ELLIS – CORREO DEL ORINOCO INTERNATIONAL

During an inspection of the power plant La Mariposa, Venezuelan Energy Minister Ali Rodriguez reported that the facility would soon have the capacity to produce 45 megawatts (MW) of electricity, enough to supply the residents of the neighborhood of Altos Mirandinos and southeast Caracas.

The plant was taken over by Venezuelan workers in March in response to the electricity crisis that had been affecting the country over the past year.

“In addition to reestablishing the machinery that was inactive, we are installing a new generation capacity to satisfy the demand that we foresee due to population growth, industrial development and an improving living standard for residents of the country”, explained Vice President Elias Jaua last Thursday.

Cuban workers from their country’s Electric Union have assisted the Venezuelans in the rehabilitation of the plant, which had been neglected for more than 20 years.

“This is an example of the political decision that President Hugo Chavez has taken to involve workers of the [electric] sector in the solution to the national electric emergency. Together, with the support of Cuban workers, the job has been completed of rehabilitating facilities that were totally abandoned and discarded by former governments as a way to advance the privatization of the electric sector”, Jaua said.

DEPENDENCE ON HYDROELECTRIC POWER

Seventy percent of electricity in Venezuela is hydroelectric, generated by the Guri Dam in the state of Bolivar.

When a prolonged drought significantly reduced the dam’s water level earlier this year, the supply of electricity in the nation could not meet rising demand, resulting in frequent power outages across the country.

Claiming they had the skills and knowledge to help pull the country out of the crisis, workers from the state-run national electricity corporation Corpoelec took to the streets last September to demand greater participation in the management of the company.

According to the workers, many of the problems associated with the crisis were the product of excessive bureaucracy in Corpoelec.

Last December, the government signed an historic, industry-wide collective contract with workers, establishing the parameters for greater worker involvement in the management and decision-making processes of the company.

The worker-led revitalization of the power plant La Mariposa represents part of an overall government strategy to improve and diversify the electric sector of the country.

“We will be installing at least 15,000 additional megawatts until the year 2015”, affirmed Vice President Jaua.

According to Jaua, the government has been able to achieve the addition of 1,087 MW to the National Electric System in the past six months.

ENERGY PLAN

Electricity Minister, Ali Rodriguez, spoke during the inspection about steps that need to be taken to avoid problems in the future.

“We are honest about the fact that there are problems that still need to be resolved, problems in which we have involved workers to advance the transmission systems and in some cases distribution. We are renovating the entire Venezuelan electric system”.

Part of the renovation includes an energy plan in the western state of Zulia, which according to the government, will add 3,000 MW and cover the total demand of the state.

In the Andean region of the country, a new dam and generating plant are under construction to add another 500 MW.

http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/5564

[The Vegan Marxist]

Don't think this got enough attention today since most have been having to debate on the other recent Venezuela post. But this is a very important step, which we've all noticed been taken the past year now.

[pranabjyoti]

I am interested to know about the present condition of alternative energy in Venezuela. Both production and research & development. I am also curious to know about the technological progresses of the such production capacities under workers control.

[REDSOX]

Another encouraging step forward for the workers movement in venezuela. It seems that slowly workers control and participation is gaining momentum in venezuela. The example of the workers union FETRAELEC in the state owned electricity corporation CORPOLEC is but one example. Others include factories like INVEVAL which makes oil valves for PDVSA, La GAVIOTA which make sardines and of course the Guayana steel and aluminium complexes. I hope there is a lot more of this in future

[Artemis3]

I am interested to know about the present condition of alternative energy in Venezuela. Both production and research & development. I am also curious to know about the technological progresses of the such production capacities under workers control.

I must say its almost non-existent. I heard about a project using wind-generation in Falcon State, but it didn't seem too big. It is a shame considering the huge exposure to sun light we have, most of the production comes from various Hydroplants in a single river in the south, which unfortunately have long transmission lines to the rest of the nation which is more densely populated in the north. Recently many smaller natural-gas and fuel oil plants have been installed, closer to consumption centers with equivalent combined capacity to that produced by hydro in case this crisis repeats.

We had some smaller exchange of solar panel technology from Vietnam, Chavez said at some point we are to build them, but before that, they are making a CFL production facility (a shame, imo, LED light would be much safer to manufacture than mercury based fluorescent lightning).

The thing is we have so much fossil fuel the incentive for alternative power is very low, unless its some rural village in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't exactly help to have Gasoline as the most subsided product which prompts many to just buy small gasoline power plants instead.

So what these workers are fixing are smaller fossil fuel plants, usually petroleum (or derivate) based. The new ones being built are natural gas with the better ones using a combined cycle having a third turbine take advantage of the heat produced by the other two, meaning increased efficiency.

Cuba sent us a lot of container sized diesel generators (along with millions of CFLs), some of which was sent to ALBA countries in central America with greater needs (like Nicaragua, etc.)

I hope true interest in alternative energy comes soon, the demand is there.

[gorillafuck]

Claiming they had the skills and knowledge to help pull the country out of the crisis, workers from the state-run national electricity corporation Corpoelec took to the streets last September to demand greater participation in the management of the company.

According to the workers, many of the problems associated with the crisis were the product of excessive bureaucracy in Corpoelec.
The first paragraph of this is awesome and the second one is correct.

[pranabjyoti]

I must say its almost non-existent. I heard about a project using wind-generation in Falcon State, but it didn't seem too big. It is a shame considering the huge exposure to sun light we have, most of the production comes from various Hydroplants in a single river in the south, which unfortunately have long transmission lines to the rest of the nation which is more densely populated in the north. Recently many smaller natural-gas and fuel oil plants have been installed, closer to consumption centers with equivalent combined capacity to that produced by hydro in case this crisis repeats.

We had some smaller exchange of solar panel technology from Vietnam, Chavez said at some point we are to build them, but before that, they are making a CFL production facility (a shame, imo, LED light would be much safer to manufacture than mercury based fluorescent lightning).

The thing is we have so much fossil fuel the incentive for alternative power is very low, unless its some rural village in the middle of nowhere. It doesn't exactly help to have Gasoline as the most subsided product which prompts many to just buy small gasoline power plants instead.

So what these workers are fixing are smaller fossil fuel plants, usually petroleum (or derivate) based. The new ones being built are natural gas with the better ones using a combined cycle having a third turbine take advantage of the heat produced by the other two, meaning increased efficiency.

Cuba sent us a lot of container sized diesel generators (along with millions of CFLs), some of which was sent to ALBA countries in central America with greater needs (like Nicaragua, etc.)

I hope true interest in alternative energy comes soon, the demand is there.
To be honest, not very enthusing. The authority and people of Venezuela must understand that they are now going for the leadership of a huge population of the world and those who are leaders and can be leaders, have to look on every aspect of progress, specifically science and technology. At least I am sure that alternative energy is the future.

[Vladimir Innit Lenin]

Particularly encouraging.

This is why Chavez is not a simple Social-Democrat - his slow move towards Socialism is not driven solely by the 'welfare state' or bureaucratic state ownership; there is a definite move towards genuine workers' democracy in Venezuela.