Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Saturday inspected a waste-to-energy (WTE) technology model – a made-in-Việt Nam invention successfully applied in Đồng Văn 2 industrial park in the northern province of Hà Nam. — VNA/VNS Photo Thống Nhất

HÀ NAM – Prime Minister Nguyễn Xuân Phúc on Saturday inspected a waste-to-energy (WTE) technology model – a made-in-Việt Nam invention successfully applied in Đồng Văn 2 industrial park in the northern province of Hà Nam.

Engineer Nguyễn Gia Long, Director of Hydraulic Machine Ltd Company (HMC) and WTE inventor, explained that the WTE technology is based on a process known as gasification, which converts wastes into a synthesis gas (syngas) used as a fuel to generate electricity.

The WTE model has been successfully piloted by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MoST), the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, and the provincial People’s Committee since September 21, 2016, during which, 208 tonnes of unclassified solid wastes were processed to generate sufficient power for the lighting system in the Đồng Văn 2 IP to run during 10 days.

The Việt Nam Environment Administration’s Centre for Environmental Monitoring reported that emissions from the process meet the standards of Việt Nam and the World Health Organisation.

Long asked the PM for Government help to protect WTE patent rights and facilitate the model’s broad application.

PM Phúc, for his part, lauded the engineer and his staff for their work over the past 16 years on researching and piloting the WTE model. He asked ministries and agencies to continue supporting the company in perfecting the technology, with a view to putting it to commercial use nationwide.

The leader suggested Hà Nam allow HMC company to handle part of the waste volume in the province during one month in order to compare the cost of the new technology with that of conventional waste treatment by burial, and then provide a detailed report on the economic efficiency of the WTE technology.

The Ministry of Industry and Trade and Electricity of Việt Nam will evaluate the technical aspects, connectivity, stability, volume and quality of power generation using the WTE technology.

The PM also expressed hope that HMC would strive to raise the WTE power generation capacity to more than its current 0.5MW, and complete procedures to commercialise the technology.

According to Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Trần Hồng Hà, an average 23 million tonnes of solid waste are buried yearly in more than 500 landfills nationwide, with only 26 of the facilities capable of classifying and recycling wastes. — VNS