UK firm plans 20 biomass plants in Vietnam

Plants will be will be fueled by rice husks.

UK firm Torftech and a Malaysian company CHE Group will partner to build the 20 plants that will have a combined capacity of 200 MW. The project is worth US$615 million.

Each of the 10 MW plants will be fuelled by rice husks using a combustion system developed by Torftech. The firm said the system will produce non-hazardous high quality ash that can be used in place of cement to strengthen concrete.

Torftech and CHE Group have established a joint venture called TORCHE Energy that will be the main contractor. The biomass plants will be built over five years in six Vietnamese provinces. Construction is set to begin by the end of 2013.