Coal power plant investors asked to develop fuel conversion plans

The Ministry of Industry and Trade (MoIT) has called on investors in coal-fired power plants to develop plans to switch from coal to biomass fuel and ammonia before their plants reach 20 years old.

Developers of plants that are unable to make the switch or do not capture CO2 have been asked to stop operations after 40 years, the ministry said in a document recently sent to Vietnam Electricity (EVN), Petrovietnam, Vinacomin, Power Generation Corporations 1, 2, 3, and Petrovietnam Power Corporation, Vinacomin Power Holding Corporation and investors of coal-fired thermal power plants in Vietnam.

The move is part of the newly-approved Power Development Plan VIII (PDP VIII), which states that coal-fired power plants that have been operating for 20 years must convert fuel to biomass and ammonia when prices of new fuels are affordable, while plants over 40 years old will be closed if fuel conversion proves impossible, it said.

The MoIT asked developers to submit their plans before July 15, 2023.

Previously, the ministry hosted a meeting with investors to discuss the fuel conversion roadmap outlined in the PDP VIII.

Speaking at the meeting, Nguyen Tai Anh, deputy general director of EVN, said that the group is managing and operating 15 coal-fired power plants with 36 turbines and a total installed capacity of 12,633 megawatts. Of them, two turbines with a capacity of 600 MW have been operating for more than 20 years, four 440 MW turbines for nearly 40 years, and four 100 MW turbines for nearly 50 years.

By 2030, the group will have four more turbines that have been operating for more than 20 years with a combined capacity of 1,230 MW.

The state utility has been researching and testing fuel transition for some turbines at the expanded Uong Bi thermo power plant and Quang Ninh thermo power plant using biomass and ammonia as substitutes.

However, global ammonia combustion technology is still in its trial phases, he said, adding that no power plant in Vietnam has ever tested ammonia co-firing and there have been no assessments of its economic and technical impacts as well as those on people, the environment, and equipment.

At present, the domestic supply of ammonia and biomass is still limited, failing to guarantee power plants’ long-term and stable operations, it said.

Meanwhile, Vinacomin, Power Generation Corporations 1, 2, 3 and some other investors were concerned about the higher prices of biomass and ammonia than coal while there is no mechanism or policy to support plants in fuel transition trials.

Therefore, they proposed the government and the MoIT to draw up a roadmap and specific mechanisms and policies regarding biomass production, financial support, and power prices.

Concluding the meeting, MoIT Minister Nguyen Hong Dien asked investors and owners of coal-fired power plants to develop their own fuel conversion roadmaps and propose support mechanisms and policies based on the experiences of other countries and international organizations.

According to the MoIT, by the end of September 2022, the country had 39 operating coal-fired power plants with a total capacity of 24,674 MW.