Vietnam: Bargasse-based electricity a possibility

Vietnam: Bargasse-based electricity a possibility

The Vietnam Sugarcane and Sugar Association (VSSA) hopes to set up power
plants that run on sugarcane by-products.

VSSA Chairman Pham Quoc Doanh said at the fifth annual International
Sugarcane Conference recently held in the central province of Binh Thuan,
that Vietnam's 41 sugar factories annually produced up to 4.5 million tonnes
of bagasses, the fibrous remains after the juice is extracted from the cane.
He said this could generate up to 1.4 billion kilowatts of electricity per
year.

By 2020, the country will produce about 20 million tonnes of sugarcane which
can turn out 2,400 megawatts of electricity.

Doanh said that if Vietnam could manage to process these sugar by-products,
they should eventually produce 10 percent of the national electricity
turnover. Countries within the Asia Pacific region, such as Brazil, Thailand
or the Philippines, have successfully used bagasse to generate electricity.

Electricity generated by bagasse is a clean alternative source which lessens
dependence on thermal power or fossil fuels and help reduce hydro power
plant production during the dry season.

Pham Hong Duong, Chairman of TTC Bien Hoa Sugar Corporation, told the
conference that the price difference between bagasse-based electricity in
Vietnam and Thailand and the Philippines was the main reason why not many
power plants have invested in this form of energy.

According to Duong, the current price for each kilowatt of electricity
generated by bagasse in Vietnam is roughly 0.05 USD, while the same amount
costs 0.11 USD in Thailand and 0.13 USD in the Philippines.

The conference, held in Phan Thiet city, was co-organised by the VSSA and
TTC Group.

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Link to Original Article:
http://en.vietnamplus.vn/bargassebased-electricity-a-possibility/117350.vnp

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John Diecker
APT Consulting Group Co., Ltd.

www.aptthailand.com