Ho Chi Minh City has made a formal request to the central government to increase the capacity of waste-to-energy incineration from 240 MW to 340 MW. The reason behind this request is to effectively handle the rising volume of waste in the city.
According to projections, by the year 2030, the electricity generated from waste incineration in Ho Chi Minh City is expected to exceed the current plan by approximately 100 MW. Currently, the authorized waste incineration plants for power generation in the city have a combined capacity of around 240 MW, owned by various companies such as Vietstar JSC, Tam Sinh Nghia Investment Development JSC, Vietnam Waste Solutions Company Limited (VWS), Tasco JSC, and Ho Chi Minh City Urban Environment Co. Ltd. (CITENCO).
To address the increasing waste volume, the city is also seeking investments for a similar waste treatment project through a public-private partnership arrangement.
The municipal Department of Natural Resources and Environment has projected that the total electricity generation capacity from waste incineration will reach approximately 340 MW by 2030, considering the observed growth in waste volume, which is expected to reach around 15,000 metric tons per day by that year.
However, the national electricity development plan for the period from 2021 to 2030, with a vision to 2050, only includes an additional 19 MW of electricity generation from waste for Ho Chi Minh City by 2030. This limitation is attributed to the slow data update between the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Industry and Trade.
In light of this discrepancy, the department has advised the People’s Committee of Ho Chi Minh City to officially request an adjustment to the scale of biomass and waste energy sources in the city from the Ministry of Industry and Trade. This adjustment aims to establish a solid legal foundation for the timely implementation of construction investment projects, particularly those related to waste incineration plants generating electricity.
