Japan's renewable energy developer Erex has started commercial operations at the 20MW Hau Giang biomass-fired power plant in Vietnam, the company announced on 25 April.
The power plant in southern Vietnam's Hau Giang province is Erex's first biomass-fired generation project in the country and burns around 130,000 t/yr of rice husks. The electricity generated by the plant is sold under Vietnam's feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme.
Erex aims to build up to 18 biomass-fired power plants in Vietnam following Hau Giang, and five plants in Cambodia. The company has started building two 50MW plants in northern Vietnam. These plants are expected to come on line by mid-2027 and burn wood residues.
Erex also plans wood pellet production projects in southeast Asia, with up to 20 factories in Vietnam and several ones in Cambodia. The company's first wood pellet factory in Vietnam with a capacity of 150,000 t/yr has already started commercial production in late March.
Erex's profits from projects in Vietnam and Cambodia are expected to grow rapidly and will account for more than half of its whole profits around 2030, according to the company.
