Vietnam’s first ethanol plant has begun operations and is expected to provide a main source of ethanol petrol for the country’s domestic market.
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| Distillation tower of Dai Tan Ethanol Plant. |
Dai Tan plant has an annual output capacity of 100,000 tonnes (or 125 million litres) and a capital of about VND 900 billlion (USD 46.5 million). It is located in Dai Tan Commune, Dai Loc District, Quang Nam, owned and operated by Dong Xanh Joint Stock Company.
Luu Quang Thai, Chairman of the company, said that the plant is expected to consume 300,000 tonnes of cassava yearly to produce the amount of ethanol necessary. The plant will also produce 20,000 tonnes of CO2 and 40,000 tonnes of fertiliser per year.
In September, 2009, the plant successfully produced its first batch and by July, 2010, the plant went into 60 - 70% of its operational capacity.
According to Thai, 50% of the ethanol produced by the plant would be sold in the domestic market, while the rest exported to neighbouring countries as the demand of ethanol in Vietnam is still rather low.
Besides this plant, Dong Xanh Joint Stock Company is currently constructing and completing 5 other ethanol-producing plants throughout the country. It is expected that by 2012, Vietnam will be able to produce 500,000 tonnes of ethanol and hundreds of thousands of litres of bio-diesel for Vietnam’s own domestic market and for export.
It was reported that only 5% percent of ethanol is currently being mixed in with other types of petrol sold on Vietnam’s market (known as E5 petrol), so that E5 petrol won’t affect motor engines that have long been used to A92 and A95 of petrol.
