Vietnam is estimated to produce 15-16 million tons of rice, mainly in the Mekong Delta and Red River Delta, generating at least four tons of rice husks a year, according to the Mekong Delta Development Research Institute.
However, rice husks are being used inefficiently and cause environmental pollution as farmers often use them as a fuel for cooking or baking bricks, and make fertilizers from them.
According to research, 1 kW of power is produced from 5kg of rice husks, hence Vietnam can turn out hundreds of MW of electricity annually. Some countries such as China, India and Mongolia annually produce hundreds of MW of power from such input.
Vietnam has yet to own technologies to produce power from rice husks, but cost to acquire such technologies is lower than of coal of other materials. Additionally, price of rice husks is very low. Generating power from rice husks will help generate jobs for farmers and reduce environmental pollution.
Rice husk power projects are being implementing in some localities at small scale. An Giang Province has two projects with combined capacity of 10 MW. Tien Giang Province has approved a 10-MW project worth $18.6 million.
Vietnam needs a nationwide survey on rice husk output and detailed productivity in order to select appropriate technologies and scales. It is in urgent need of utilizing renewable sources to produce power to meet the increasing demand, while rice husk is available nationwide.
Vietnam now has to import electricity. Demand for electricity is estimated to rise four times from now. Hydropower potential is likely to be exhausted in the next decade, while gas and coal resources are limited. The country is predicted to import coal and energy in the next few years.