PETALING JAYA: Ranhill Holdings Bhd, which is close to partially divesting its waste water company in China, is eyeing a gas-fired power plant project in Myanmar and submitted a proposal to build a new power plant in Sabah.
Its president and CEO Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad said the Myanmar government is calling for expressions of interest for a 400MW gas-fired power plant.
“We are participating in a bid in Myanmar for 400MW. I think we are in an advantageous position because we did prepare a feasibility study two years ago for the same project. We thought we could do a direct negotiation but the government decided to call for a tender, so we will participate in the tender,” he told reporters after the company’s AGM here yesterday.
Meanwhile, Hamdan said, Ranhill has submitted a proposal to build a power plant with a capacity of between 200MW and 400MW in Sabah. “We are looking at around 200MW-400MW (in Sabah). In the renewable energy segment, it could be smaller, maybe about 30MW. We can’t reveal the details but hopefully good news is coming soon.”
In the power business, Ranhill currently holds a 37% share of the market in Sabah with plans to expand the current capacity of 380MW to 1,000MW by 2020.
Hamdan said Ranhill’s expansion in the power sector in Sabah and the region is in line with the company’s long-term strategy to be a regional leader in green and renewable energy.
On another note, Hamdan said Ranhill is in the final stages of talks to divest as much as 60% in Ranhill Water Technologies (Cayman) Ltd (RWT Cayman) to a state-owned enterprise (SOE) in China, in a move to help the company expand its waste water business there.
Currently, the waste-water industry in China is dominated by large SOEs. Ranhill, he said, hopes to conclude the negotiations in two to three months.
The group believes such strategic partnerships will facilitate the procurement of water concession deals in China by providing broader access to potential clients and target markets.
Ranhill intends to use the proceeds from the partial divestment to expand its business in China.
“Due to China’s rapid industrialisation, we have plans to increase our water treatment capacity from 330 millions of litres per day (as at end 2015 to 1,000MLD by 2020,” he said.
Hamdan pointed out that Ranhill, which raised RM386 million from its initial public offering in March, has about RM650 million cash in hand.
“Moving forward, we have about RM120 million in capital expenditure (capex) to be utilised for the remainder of 2016,” Hamdan said, adding that the capex will be evenly distributed for its businesses in Malaysia and China.
Source: The Sun Daily
