Finnish parliament speaker joins inauguration of $57 mln waste-to-energy plant in northern Vietnam

The Thang Long-Bac Ninh waste-to-energy plant in the northern province of Bac Ninh was inaugurated Tuesday in the presence of Finnish parliament speaker Jussi Halla-aho.

The VND1.4 trillion ($56.5 million) factory utilizes technology and equipment provided by Finnish firm Valmet.

It is the first project in Vietnam that deploys circular technology for waste processing and burning. The 4.8-hectare facility has a daily capacity of processing 500 tons of waste, generating 11 MW of electricity.

With the latest WTE project, Bac Ninh has become the first locality in Vietnam to process the entire domestic waste generated every day with advanced technology.

The project, also the fourth of its kind in the northern province, is set to enter trial operation soon and increase the province’s waste processing capacity to 1,500 tons a day.

Three other projects in the province have already started official operations or are in trial mode.

Bac Ninh is now home to 28 industrial parks – 12 operational and 16 under construction – featuring almost 2,000 businesses with 300,000 workers. The province generates 1,100 tons of domestic waste, excluding industrial waste, every day.

Construction of the Thang Long-Bac Ninh waste-to-energy factory started in May 2019. It deploys technologies for filtering waste and collecting refuse-derived fuel (RDF) provided by BMH Technology, and circular incinerator and exhaust gas treatment provided by Finnish firm Valmet.

Jussi Halla-aho and his entourage left Hanoi the same day, concluding a three-day official visit to Vietnam at the invitation of his Vietnamese counterpart Vuong Dinh Hue.

During his visit, the Finnish speaker held talks with National Assembly Chairman Hue, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh, and Truong Thi Mai, permanent member of the Party Central Committee’s Secretariat and head of the Party Central Committee’s Organization Commission.

Leaders of the two countries discussed utilization of the EU-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement (EVFTA), especially in high technology, green development, environment, agriculture, forestry, information technology (IT); as well as other regional and international issues of common interest.