RPower 'ideally' placed for strong performance: Anil Ambani

Reliance Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (ADAG) Group Chairman Anil Ambani on Monday said that Reliance Power is ideally positioned to deliver a strong operating and financial performance.

Addressing the Annual General Meeting of Reliance Power, Ambani observed that the company is among the top three private power generation companies with operating portfolio of about 6,000 megawatt (MW).

"My dear fellow shareowners, Reliance Power is ideally positioned to continue to deliver strong operating and financial performance," he said.

The company is now focused on development of the second phase of 1,500 megawatt gas-based projects in Bangladesh, he said.

The company has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to develop 3,000 MW gas-based projects in Bangladesh.

The Reliance Power Chairman said that with these developments, the company will be able clear its Rs 2,400 crore debt to the US Exim Bank.

"Building on the momentum of Phase 1 development, Reliance Power's focus now is on the development of Phase-II of 1500 MW in Bangladesh, in line with the MoU signed for the development of 3000 MW gas-based projects. With these developments, Reliance Power will be able to completely retire the US EXIM debt of about Rs 2,400 crore," Ambani said.

He also said that the company has already signed power purchase and gas supply agreements for 750 MW phase-1 of the gas-based power generation plant in Bangladesh with a capital outlay of over Rs 5,000 crore.

The company has also signed a joint venture agreement with JERA, the largest power utility in Japan, he added.

"In keeping with the group's DNA i.e. 'converting every adversity into an opportunity', Reliance Power has successfully converted the challenge facing the stranded gas-based asset at Samalkot into an opportunity in Bangladesh," the Reliance Power Chairman said.

"Our focus on 'operational excellence' and on delivering 'best-in-class' performance is amply demonstrated by our operating portfolio - by achieving close to 80 per cent PLF (plant load factor) compared to the national average of about 60 per cent for the year ending March 2019," he added.

He noted that Sasan, the country's largest integrated power plant with 4,000 MW power generation and 18 million tonnes of coal production has consistently ranked as the best performing plant in its category over the last four years. During the year ending March 2019, the plant achieved highest PLF of 95 per cent much above the next best plant's PLF of about 91 per cent.

"Reiterating our commitment to cleaner and greener power by reducing emissions, we are undertaking a capex of nearly Rs 4,000 crore to install FGDs (flue-gas desulphurization) in our coal based plants," the Reliance ADAG Chairman said.

Ambani also said that Reliance Power is committed to grow its portfolio with solar, wind, bio-mass, bio-gas and waste-to-energy in the renewable energy space to meet the twin objectives of development of sustainable, cleaner and greener power generation portfolio and capital light assets with shorter development cycle and quicker generation of reverse cash flows.

"We are committed to making Reliance Power a 'future green' company," he said.

( With inputs from IANS )