Erex seeks more sorghum-wood pellet output in Vietnam
Japanese renewables developer Erex aims to expand its wood pellet production from sorghum in Vietnam, targeting to secure biomass fuel supplies for Japanese users and tap growing Vietnamese power demand.
Erex is targeting to boost wood pellet output by using sorghum to 5mn t/yr by 2030. The company plans to start commercial planting of sorghum in Vietnam after completion of trial plantings in south Vietnam's Long An, Tay Ninh and Binh Thuan provinces and southcentral Vietnam's Phu Yen province. The company previously announced a target of 4.5mn t of the pellet output without providing a detailed timeline.
Erex is considering using the wood pellets for its planned 300MW biomass power plant in northwest Japan's Niigata prefecture and unspecified coal and biomass co-firing plants in Japan. It is also planning to use the sorghum-derived wood pellets for new biomass power plants with total capacity of 600MW in Vietnam.
The firm has set a goal to introduce 3.4GW of new biomass power generation capacity in Vietnam by 2040, with 2GW of capacity using Erex's sorghum wood pellets and the remaining 1.4GW consuming unused fuels in Vietnam like wood residues and rice husks. It currently estimates 1.1GW of potential biomass power projects using both sorghum wood pellets and unused biomass across Vietnam by 2030.
Erex has acquired a 51pc stake in Hau Giang Bio Energy to build the 20MW Hau Giang power plant in south Vietnam's Hau Giang province, targeting to begin commercial operations by 2024.
