The domestic waste volume has been increasing by 10 percent per annum, but the old waste treatment methods are still applied. Thirty percent of waste is recycled and burnt with old technology, while 70 percent of waste is buried, causing secondary pollution and failing to implement the plan on minimizing waste.

In an effort to mitigate pollution, in 2019-2020, HCM City approved a series of solid waste and rubbish treatment plants with total daily capacity of 2,500 tons. 

The city has also shifted from burying to incinerating waste with the establishment of a number of waste-to-electricity (WTE) plant, including Tam Sinh Nghia (2,000 tons per day) and Vietstar (2,000 tons).

The HCM City 11th Party Committee’s conference of the 2020-2025 tenure decided that at least 80 percent of domestic waste would be treated with new technologies by 2025, while the figure must be 100 percent by 2030.

The total capacity of WTE plants that need to be put into operation by 2030 must be 340MW for the waste volume of 15,000 tons per day.

HCM City is considering adjusting investment policies and calling for investment in WTE projects with the total capacity of 244MW.

Institutional problems

However, to develop WTE projects, HCM City needs a legal framework for waste treatment and electricity generation. In addition, regulations related to power plants’ operation need to be promulgated.

In order to make projects eligible to be connected to the national grid, which is required for the signing of other agreements related to the Law on Electricity, PPA (power purchasing agreement) and COD (commercial operation date) recognition, legal documents and development planning must be released.

However, to date, the deployment of the planning has faced obstacles.

The eighth national power development plan for 2021-2030 (Plan 8) doesn’t mention the development of WTE for cities and provinces.

After Plan 8 received the Prime Minister’s approval in a decision dated May 15, 2023, HCM City authorities sent a document to the Ministry of Industry and Trade (MOIT), requesting the ministry to adjust the city’s scale of biomass and WTE, raising the designed capacity to 340MW by 2030.

However, after many discussions, MOIT set the WTE capacity of HCM City at 123MW only by 2030, while there is no list of WTE projects for implementation.

Some other cities and provinces have lists of WTE projects, but there is only general information, while connection solutions have not been mentioned.

The connection solutions have not been figured out in the Ministry of Industry and Trade’s (MOIT) plan because WTE projects have smaller scale than traditional electricity sources. 

Designing connection solutions for small-scale projects is within the jurisdiction of local authorities, according to the Law on Planning. After local development planning is approved and announced, HCM City then needs to design implementation plans for appraisal and publication to the Prime Minister.

The development planning that serves as the foundation for connection to the grid and the next steps of WTE projects can only be done one year after the city issued the planning (under the 2017 Law on Planning).

With a population of 9 million, the daily domestic waste volume in HCM City would ensure the feasibility of WTE plants. 

Investors have resources to kick off WTE projects, but they cannot start construction because of obstacles related to administrative procedures.

WTE plants are different from normal electricity generation plants, so there must be specific calculations in terms of environmental impact and business costs.

Previously, many experts did not support the development of WTE plants in Vietnam, saying that the solution was not feasible because domestic waste is not classified as is done in developed countries. This was why most waste was treated by burying or incineration.

However, with rapid technology development, Vietnam can apply new technologies which don’t require classification.

The operational WTE projects in Vietnam, such as Soc Son (75MW, 4,000 tons of waste per day) and Bac Ninh (6.1MW, 180 tons), prove the effectiveness of the WTE model.

To Van Truong