Vietnam set to open world’s 2nd-largest waste-to-energy plant
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, Dec 1 (EFE).- Vietnam will open in January the world’s second-largest waste-to-energy plant that can incinerate 4,000 tons of filth a day to generate electricity and deal with the garbage crisis of the capital.
The Soc Son plant with a capacity to produce 75 MW of electricity per hour is located 35 km from Hanoi, project investor Thien Y Environmental Energy said Wednesday.
The investor expects to process up to 60 percent or 4,000 tons of solid waste generated each day in Hanoi, said the company in charge of the project.
The project, approved in 2017, involves an investment of 7 billion dongs ($308 million).
It is spread over 173,900 square meters, making it the second-largest in the world after China’s Shenzhen that can process 5,000 tons of garbage a day.
With a population of almost 8 million people, Hanoi generates 6,500 tons of waste each day, of which 5,500 will be sent to the Soc Son plant when it is fully operational.
After the garbage gets incinerated, the waste generated by the combustion will be used to build bricks and building materials.
The plant, whose commissioning has been delayed for several months due to the Covid-19 pandemic, has five incinerators and three generator sets.
It will have a gas filtration system to prevent the emission of dioxins, mercury, and nitrogen into the atmosphere to comply with European Union standards.
The Vietnamese authorities hope that the new plant will help solve Hanoi’s problem with waste.
The overloaded landfills in Hanoi have been operating beyond their capacities for a few years, triggering a major garbage crisis in the city.
According to government data, in 2017, 85 percent of Vietnam’s garbage was buried in landfills without being treated. EFE
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