Feasibility and Sustainability of Co-firing biomass in coal power plants in Vietnam

The technology of co-firing biomass with coal is well-matured as demonstrated in many power plants in Europe and the US. It is considered as a relatively low-cost technology to utilize biomass in power generation as well as to reduce the greenhouse gases emissions and coal consumption in coal power plants. However, biomass co-firing is still a new concept in the context of Vietnam energy sector. By 2030, the capacity of coal power plants in Vietnam will be expanded to 75 GW, which accounts for 57% of total power generation. This will increase the greenhouse gases emissions and pose a great challenge on coal supply for Vietnam. This research aims to evaluate the feasibility and sustainability of co-firing biomass in coal power plants in Vietnam. The assessment is conducted using a set of indicators, which is divided into four categories: technical, economical, environmental and social aspects. The feasibility and sustainability assessment is then applied to a case study, a newly constructed 1000 MW fluidized bed coal power plant in Quang Ninh Province. In the case study, direct co-firing technology with 5% of biomass co-fired percentage is selected for the evaluation of the indicators.