Mekong Delta province terminates $56 mln waste-to-energy project

Hau Giang province has terminated the VND1.32 trillion ($56.32 million) Hau Giang waste-to-energy power plant project, which was given in-principle approval in 2016.

The 23-hectare project, invested by Greenity Hau Giang Co., Ltd, has a designed capacity of 6 megawatts and can process 300 tons of waste daily in the first phase. The second-phase figures are 12 MW and 600 tons, respectively.

Project construction kicked off in Phung Hiep district of the southern province in September 2020, with an original schedule of official operation in late 2021.

The investor said the project faces problems of insufficient waste as input material for operation. Besides, increasing material costs pushed up estimated investments, while the search for industrial waste from other localities to offset the material shortage was infeasible.

In March 2022, Greenity Hau Giang proposed Hau Giang province support the project by updating its capacity to 450 tons of domestic waste a day and the investment to VND1,500 billion ($64 million). The investor also proposed provincial authorities delay the deadline for first phase operation until December 2024. Additionally, it sought permission from the province to collect waste in a radius of 55 kilometers from the factory for waste treatment.

One of the latest waste-to-power projects in Vietnam is the Soc Son plant in Hanoi. The 75-MW plant, the country's biggest of its kind, entered operation on July 25, 2022, after several delays. This is also the largest waste incineration plant in Vietnam with a capacity of handling 4,000 tons of dry waste a day, equivalent to nearly 5,500 tons of wet waste.

Last August, Harvest Waste B.V., a Dutch waste management company, had received permission to carry out initial studies for a waste-to-energy project in the Mekong Delta province of Soc Trang.

Hau Giang province, traditionally known as an agricultural production center, is emerging as an investment hub in the Mekong Delta, attracting big Vietnamese names like Masan, Vingroup, Minh Phu, and Tan Hiep Phat.

Hau Giang will soon welcome three expressways, namely Can Tho-Ca Mau, Chau Doc-Can Tho-Soc Trang, and Ha Tien-Rach Gia-Bac Lieu. A maritime route connecting Hau Giang and Tran De ports will also facilitate transfer of goods from local industrial parks and urban areas.

Increasingly attractive to investors, the province has lured 418 domestic investments worth VND140,542 billion ($6.02 billion), and 24 foreign-invested projects worth $617 million.