Richardson Named Managing Director, Australia for NRG Energy, Inc.

Adelaide , Australia (February 3, 2004) NRG Energy, Inc. has appointed Tom Richardson as the Managing Director of the Company's Australian portfolio of assets. Richardson most recently served as the interim CEO of NRG Flinders, an NRG-owned generating station and coal mine in South Australia .

As Managing Director, Richardson will provide oversight and management to NRG's operations in Australia which include ownership interests in the Gladstone facility in Queensland , Loy Yang Power in Victoria and a 100 percent interest in NRG Flinders.

“Tom's previous experience will prove invaluable in continuing the Company's commitment to being a significant operator in the Australian energy market,” said John Brewster, NRG Vice President of Worldwide Operations . “His leadership is instrumental in ensuring that the plants continue to be operated with the same high priorities of safety and environmental stewardship for which NRG is renowned.”

Richardson first joined NRG in 1994 leading a number of key functions in Operations and Human Resource Management, both in Australia and the United States . He left NRG in November 2002, working as a consultant in the Queensland generation business for a short period, before rejoining NRG in July 2003. His recent accomplishments include managing NRG's current Playford refurbishment project in Port Augusta which will enable NRG to contribute at least an additional 240MW from this station towards meeting Australia 's future electricity generation needs.

NRG Energy, Inc. owns and operates a diverse portfolio of power-generation facilities. Its operations include competitive energy production and cogeneration facilities, thermal energy production and energy resource recovery facilities.

Certain statements included in this news release are forward-looking statements within the meaning Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements above include, but are not limited to, the future success of NRG. Although NRG believes that its expectations are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. Factors that cold cause the results to differ materially from those contemplated in the forward-looking statements include, among other, hazards customary in the power industry, increasing competition in the wholesale power market, the volatility of energy and fuel prices, failure of customers to perform under contracts, changes in the wholesale power markets and related government regulation, the condition of capital markets generally, our ability to borrow additional funds and access capital markets, our substantial indebtedness and the possibility that we may incur additional indebtedness and our ability to generate sufficient cash flow to make interest payments on this financing.

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