Hi-tech waste-to-power plant eyed

The plant will use advanced US technology to treat waste to produce electricityPhoto: Le Toan

The Han & Han and Pedco joint venture would build a waste treatment and power production complex with the capacity to treat 75 tonnes of waste daily in Hanoi.

Nguyen Quang Huy, chief executive officer of FDI Vivina, which operates in events management, trade promotion and investment consulting services for foreign investors, announced the project.

He said the plant would use innovative US technology for the treatment of solid and liquid organic waste which would produce between 7-9 megawatts of electricity and also produce high-value by-products including raw materials for metal and glass.

This technology would treat 100 per cent of the waste. In addition, all green house gases and fumes would be controlled and cleaned before being emitted into the environment. The energy generated during the incineration process would be used to produce electricity.

The timely project comes in the context of Vietnam’s rapid urbanisation, which has led to ever-growing amounts of industrial waste, combined with growing concern about power shortages.

Vietnam currently produces three million tonnes of industrial waste. It is estimated that the total waste that Hanoi alone will need to treat up to 2.7 million tonnes per year by 2020.

In Southeast Asian countries, land fill sites are often used for the disposal of industrial waste, but there is a short supply of available land in Vietnam. Power generation from waste is likely to become increasingly popular in the region and would also meet Vietnam’s growing power demands according to Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organisation (NEDO)’s website.

Late last month, another waste-to-power plant kicked off in Hanoi’s Soc Son district developed by the Urban Environment Company and NEDO with the total estimated investment capital of nearly $30 million.

Last year, Australia’s Trisum International announced that it would pour $400 million to build a waste-to-power plant in Ho Chi Minh City. 

Vietnam is calling for investments in modern waste treatment technology, particularly rubbish incineration for power generation. However, none of them will come online due to the absence of a regulatory framework and low retail price of electricity.