Venezuela plans to sharply reduce its reliance and hydropower over the next five years while increasing its use of thermoelectric power to take advantage of its hefty reserves of oil and gas.

Venezuela currently relies on water-driven hydropower for about 80% of its electricity supply, while thermoelectric plants only supply 20% of the country's total output of around 25,000 megawatts. The country wants to change that to a 50-50 ratio by 2015, according to a statement late Monday from state-run news agency AVN.

"The objective is to balance hydroelectric and thermoelectric generation," according to the statement.

The oil-rich nation faced severe electricity shortages earlier this year as a drought reduced the power-generating capacity at its main hydropower plants. The country's main hydropower plant, the Guri, saw the water level at its reservoir dip to 248 meters above sea level.

The statement said Venezuela aims to install some 15,000 megawatts of new electricity capacity over the next five years, of which 12,000 megawatts would come in the form of thermoelectric plants, while about 3,000 megawatts would come from new hydropower plants. The total cost would be about $15 billion, or $1 billion per 1,000 new megawatts of capacity, it said.

While using more thermoelectric power could rescue the country from shortage risks due to drought, analysts warn that using a larger portion of its oil and gas reserves for domestic power consumption will reduce its main source of foreign revenue by cutting international oil sales.
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