Japanese renewable energy developer Erex aims to obtain 92,000 t/yr of CO2 equivalent (CO2e) of carbon credits in 2028 fiscal year from two biomass co-firing projects in Vietnam, the company told Argus.
Erex signed an agreement with state-owned company Vietnam National Coal and Mineral Industries (Vinacomin) on coal and biomass co-firing projects on 16 April. The companies plan to start commercial co-firing power generation at Vinacomin's two thermal coal plants, namely the 110MW Na Duong and the 115MW Cao Ngan in northern Vietnam, in the April 2027-March 2028 fiscal year, according to Erex.
Erex expects to obtain around half of the total CO2e created by the two plants, which means approximately 45,000 t/yr from Na Duong and 47,000 t/yr from Cao Ngan, in the April 2028-March 2029 fiscal year. The company aims to sell the carbon credits in Japan and other countries, and is currently negotiating with Vietnamese government on project details.
Under the joint crediting mechanism (JCM), Japanese developers like Erex are actively negotiating with the Vietnamese government to register biomass co-firing projects specifically to generate credits shared between Japan and Vietnam.
Erex has successfully carried out trial combustions of coal and biomass co-firing operations at the two plants in January, burning up to 20pc of wood chips at Na Duong and up to 30pc of wood pellets at Cao Ngan. The company also plans to conduct co-firing test runs at Vinacomin's 670MW Cam Pha thermal coal plant around 2027-28.
Erex eventually aims to conduct co-firing operations at six of Vinacomin's thermal coal plants in Vietnam, with a total capacity of 1,585MW, including Na Duong, Cao Ngan and Cam Pha.
The co-firing projects also underscore Vietnam's net-zero strategy. The country currently relies on coal to meet around half of its electricity demand, with power consumption increasing by 10 pc/yr. Vietnam has looked to biomass fuels as self-sufficient renewable energy sources.
