The Cogeneration Potential of the Sugar Industry in Vietnam

Subhes C. Bhattacharyya and Dang Ngoc Quoc Thang

OPEC Energy Review, 2004, vol. 28, issue 1, 63-80

Abstract: Vietnam produces about 15 million tons of sugarcane per year and about five mt of bagasse. There is the potential for cogeneration using bagasse, which can also help overcome power shortages in the country. This paper analyses the potential for cogeneration from the sugar industry in Vietnam under three different scenarios and finds that between 100 and 300 megawatts of power‐generating capacity could be supported by the bagasse generated from sugar mills, depending on the technology considered for sugar mills and cogeneration and the possibility of renovation of the existing mills. The paper also assesses the expense of cogeneration and finds it to be a cost‐effective option for all types of sugar mill. It is found that the cost savings from cogeneration would more than offset the cost of introducing cogeneration in sugar mills with inefficient caneprocessing technologies. Sugar mills with modern technologies would have a significant amount of excess power and most of these plants would break‐even if they sold excess power at around 4.5 cents per kilowatt hour. The break‐even cost and the average production cost are sensitive to the investment cost assumptions. The paper thus suggests that cogeneration from the sugar industry is an attractive option for investors in existing mills or new sugar mills alike.

Date: 2004
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0277-0180.2004.00079.x

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bla:opecrv:v:28:y:2004:i:1:p:63-80

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://ordering.onli ... /%28ISSN%291753-0237

Access Statistics for this article

OPEC Energy Review is currently edited by Angela U. Agoawike

More articles in OPEC Energy Review from Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Wiley Content Delivery ().