一家中国工程公司即将部分重启一座已大多闲置多年的委内瑞拉大型电厂，这是修复该国破败电网的关键一步。
A Chinese engineering company is on the cusp of partially restarting a massive Venezuelan power plant that’s been largely idle for years, a crucial step toward fixing the nation’s dilapidated grid.
据知情人士透露，中国机械工程股份有限公司计划下个月在广阔的中央电厂综合体启动一台600兆瓦的燃油机组，这些人因该事项尚未公开而要求不具名。该公司根据已故总统乌戈·查韦斯执政时期签署的一份合同在该电厂开展工作。
By Patricia Garip and Fabiola Zerpa China Machinery Engineering Corp. plans to switch on a 600-megawatt, oil-fired unit next month at the sprawling Planta Centro complex, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked not to be identified because the matter isn’t public. The company is working on the plant under a contract dating back to the presidency of the late Hugo Chávez.
重启委内瑞拉最大的化石燃料燃烧电厂将有助于缓解长期停电问题，自6月地震重创该地区以来，停电情况已恶化。与此同时，一家由北京控制的公司承担维修工作，这提醒人们：即使特朗普政府誓言要减少中国在委内瑞拉的影响力，中国依然活跃于该国。委内瑞拉信息部和中国机械工程公司均未回复置评请求。
Restarting Venezuela’s largest fossil fuel-burning plant will help ease chronic blackouts that have worsened since earthquakes ravaged the region in June. Meanwhile, the fact that a Beijing-controlled company is undertaking the repairs is a reminder that China remains active in Venezuela even as the Trump administration has vowed to reduce its influence. Venezuela’s Information Ministry and China Machinery Engineering didn’t respond to requests for comment.
由于美国制裁挤压了委内瑞拉经济，该国电网多年来遭受投资不足和缺乏维护之苦。从工厂车间到城市街道，停电正激起日益高涨的不满。委内瑞拉社会冲突观察站记录显示，仅9月一月就有531起因停电引发的抗议，较去年同期增长逾20倍。
The Venezuelan power grid has suffered from years of underinvestment and lack of maintenance as US sanctions squeezed the nation’s economy. From factory floors to city streets, blackouts are stoking mounting frustration. The Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict documented 531 protests over power failures in September alone, up more than 20-fold from a year earlier.
据彭博新能源财经数据，理论上委内瑞拉拥有足以产生约37,000兆瓦发电量的装机容量，其中约一半来自水电大坝。但许多电厂处于严重失修状态。部分机组的零部件已被拆解移用以修复其他机组。除了偶尔灯光闪烁，加拉加斯是委内瑞拉极少数不经常停电的地方之一。
On paper, the nation has enough generating capacity to produce roughly 37,000 megawatts, with about half coming from hydroelectric dams, according to BloombergNEF. But many plants are in serious disrepair. Parts from some units have been cannibalized to fix others. One of the only places in Venezuela that doesn’t regularly go dark, aside from occasional flickers, is Caracas.
维持电力供应对石油行业尤为关键，石油行业是委内瑞拉经济的支柱。那里的原油作业严重依赖电网，尽管新立法要求公司安装自己的发电机。
Keeping the lights on is especially vital for the oil sector, the backbone of Venezuela’s economy. Crude operations there rely heavily on the grid, even as new legislation requires companies to install their own generators.
知情人士透露，包括雷普索尔、雪佛龙以及五角大楼的合作伙伴北美蓝色能源合作伙伴公司在内的几家石油公司，正在对电力基础设施进行维修，以确保它们能可靠地获得电力。
Several oil companies, including Repsol SA, Chevron Corp. and the Pentagon’s partner, North American Blue Energy Partners Inc., are conducting repairs to power infrastructure to ensure they have reliable access to electricity, the people said.
位于卡拉波波州、距加拉加斯以西约85英里（135公里）的中央电厂，约50年前首次开发建设，曾为加拉加斯供电。由于设备故障、机组老化、燃料短缺等因素，该厂自2021年以来基本处于停运状态。如果全面投入运营，这座拥有六台机组的电厂可产出逾2500兆瓦电力，超过两座大型核反应堆的发电量。
Planta Centro, about 85 miles (135 kilometers) west of Caracas in Carabobo state, was first developed about 50 years ago and once supplied Caracas. It has been largely shut since 2021 because of equipment failures, aging machinery, fuel shortages and other factors. If fully operational, the six-unit complex could crank out more than 2,500 megawatts, which is more than the output of two large nuclear reactors.
自2010年左右以来一直在该电厂承揽合同的中国机械工程集团，正在重启6号机组，这将恢复该电厂约25%的原有产能。知情人士称，一旦投运，该发电机组将使用委内瑞拉国家石油公司供应的燃料油。
China Machinery Engineering, which has had a contract to work at the plant since about 2010, is restarting unit number 6, which will bring about 25% of the complex’s former capacity back online. Once operational, the generator will use fuel oil supplied by state-owned Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the people said.
自美国军方1月俘获前总统尼古拉斯·马杜罗后不久，美国总统唐纳德·特朗普及其政府成员一直在主张削减中国在委内瑞拉的影响力。
US President Donald Trump and members of his administration have been making the case for reducing Chinese leverage in Venezuela since shortly after US forces captured former President Nicolás Maduro in January.
美国国务卿马尔科·鲁比奥在1月28日参议院外交关系委员会听证会上表示：“20年来首次，我们正在就削弱并消除伊朗的存在、中国的影响力以及俄罗斯的存在进行严肃对话。”
“For the first time in 20 years, we are having serious conversations about eroding and eliminating the Iranian presence, the Chinese influence, the Russian presence as well,” US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said during a Jan. 28 Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing.
中央电厂的维修工作是委内瑞拉电力基础设施正在进行的一系列更广泛维修工作的一部分，所有这些基础设施均归国家电力公司所有。
The work at Planta Centro is part of a broader series of repairs underway on Venezuela’s electricity infrastructure, which is all owned by the national power company, Corporación Eléctrica Nacional SA.
GE Vernova Inc. 于 6 月与委内瑞拉签署了一份初步协议，协助修复电网。知情人士透露，由于谈判和设备交付延误，进展有所放缓。GE Vernova 在一份声明中表示，正在努力敲定合同，以便尽快开工。
GE Vernova Inc. signed a preliminary agreement with Venezuela in June to help repair the grid. Progress, however, has been slowed by negotiations and equipment delays, the people said. GE Vernova said in a statement that it’s working to finalize contracts to begin work as soon as possible.
另一家承包商、阿根廷的 Impsa SA 正在修复托科马水电站，这是一个位于卡罗尼河上的大型未完工项目。
Another contractor, Argentina’s Impsa SA, is repairing the Tocoma hydroelectric station, a massive unfinished project on the Caroní River.