T Plus board approves development strategy to 2020
MOSCOW. Feb 1 (Interfax) - The board of directors of T Plus has approved a long-term strategy that sets out the priority areas for development of the Russian energy group's business to 2020, the company said in a statement.
The company expects that the implementation of a program to increase the efficiency of the group's generating, grid and sales assets will enable it to increase earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) by 20 billion-25 billion rubles by the year 2020.
T Plus CEO Boris Vaynzikher told journalists in April 2015 that EBITDA totaled 25 billion rubles in 2014 and would top 30 billion rubles in 2015.
The new strategy was discussed in connection with the successful conclusion of the company's reorganization and implementation of the plan to commission facilities under the program of capacity provision contracts in 2009-2015. Under the long-term strategy, management's main goal is to improve the efficiency of the group's power generation, heating grid and distribution assets, a necessity given the steady decline in demand for electricity and heat, the company said in a press release.
Projects to optimize and modernize heating hubs in the company's area of responsibility are the foundation of the new strategy. A significant surplus of heat capacity is shaping up in the majority of locations where the T Plus group is present, creating opportunities to withdraw inefficient equipment from service and redistribute the load to up-to-date sources. The long-term program for raising efficiency stipulates investment in modernization of hear supply infrastructure, including work to establish individual heating locations and receiving the maximal synergies from interaction between water distribution and generating assets.
An important area of the strategy is the further development of the retail business, notably, reducing receivables for heat energy by switching to direct billing of households, searching for new clients within the company's area of responsibility and introducing common standards for servicing subscribers.
Under the strategy, one area of company operations will be construction of new generating capacity using renewable energy sources. The group plans to participate in tenders on renewable energy projects in the regions where it operates.
T Plus Group (formerly IES Holding) unites the power generating and heat supply assets of Viktor Vekselberg's Renova, as well as gas and utilities services assets. The group includes 59 power plants, over 400 boilers and nearly 15,000 kilometers of heat distribution grids, enabling it to supply consumers over 100 million Gcal of heat and 50 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity a year. T Plus accounts for 7% of Russia installed power generating capacity and about 10% of the nation's centralized heating market.