Bargasse-based electricity a possibility

Bargasse can be used for producing cheap electricity - Photo: VNA

VSSA Chairman Pham Quoc Doanh said at the fifth annual International Sugarcane Conference recently held in the central province of Binh Thuan, that Vietnam's 41 sugar factories annually produced up to 4.5 million tonnes of bagasses, the fibrous remains after the juice is extracted from the cane. He said this could generate up to 1.4 billion kilowatts of electricity per year.

By 2020, the country will produce about 20 million tonnes of sugarcane which can turn out 2,400 megawatts of electricity.

Doanh said that if Vietnam could manage to process these sugar by-products, they should eventually produce 10 percent of the national electricity turnover. Countries within the Asia Pacific region, such as Brazil, Thailand or the Philippines, have successfully used bagasse to generate electricity.

Electricity generated by bagasse is a clean alternative source which lessens dependence on thermal power or fossil fuels and help reduce hydro power plant production during the dry season.

Pham Hong Duong, Chairman of TTC Bien Hoa Sugar Corporation, told the conference that the price difference between bagasse-based electricity in Vietnam and Thailand and the Philippines was the main reason why not many power plants have invested in this form of energy.

According to Duong, the current price for each kilowatt of electricity generated by bagasse in Vietnam is roughly 0.05 USD, while the same amount costs 0.11 USD in Thailand and 0.13 USD in the Philippines.

The conference, held in Phan Thiet city, was co-organised by the VSSA and TTC Group.