Feasibility and sustainability of co-firing biomass in coal power plants in Vietnam
Abstract
The technology of co-firing biomass with coal is well-matured as demonstrated in many power plants in
Europe and the US. It is considered as a relatively low-cost technology to utilize biomass in power
generation as well as to reduce the greenhouse gases emissions and coal consumption in coal power
plants. However, biomass co-firing is still a new concept in the context of Vietnam energy sector. By
2030, the capacity of coal power plants in Vietnam will be expanded to 75 GW, which accounts for 57%
of total power generation. This will increase the greenhouse gases emissions and pose a great challenge
on coal supply for Vietnam. This research aims to evaluate the feasibility and sustainability of co-firing
biomass in coal power plants in Vietnam. The assessment is conducted using a set of indicators, which is
divided into four categories: technical, economical, environmental and social aspects. The feasibility and
sustainability assessment is then applied to a case study, a newly constructed 1000 MW fluidized bed
coal power plant in Quang Ninh Province. In the case study, direct co-firing technology with 5% of
biomass co-fired percentage is selected for the evaluation of the indicators.
Domains
Environmental studies
Origin : Files produced by the author(s)