Licensed to build the first geothermal power plant in Vietnam

Quang Tri province has granted an investment license for the project to build the first geothermal power plant in Dakrong with a capacity of 25MW, opening the way for exploiting new energy sources in the near future.

According to Mr. Ta Huong, Vice President of Vietnam Thermal AssociationMale, our country is assessed to have average geothermal potential compared to the world. Besides, this energy source in our country also has the advantage of being evenly distributed throughout the country, allowing for widespread use in most localities such as Phu Tho, Quang Binh, Quang Tri...

In fact, geothermal power plants can operate continuously day and night, regardless of climatic factors such as solar energy, wind or ocean waves... The source of geothermal energy underground is endless, ensuring that geothermal power plants operate sustainably and for a long time. At the same time, building a geothermal power plant also takes up very little space. Thermal power plants do not burn any fuel, so they are cleaner for the environment than any other power plant.

The simplest way to exploit geothermal energy is to drill wells 4-5km deep. Then, bring water down to this depth to reach an area with a temperature of about 2,000 degrees Celsius. The water will then boil and flow up through pipes, running a generator. This technology system is called HDR (Hot Dry Rock) Technology.

However, the development of this energy source faces great difficulties in that it requires modern technology along with large investment capital, estimated to be up to 2.5 million Euros for 1 MW of designed capacity. Geological processing techniques are also very complicated because it is necessary to find the right geothermal area with high temperature for geothermal exploitation to be effective.

Currently, many countries in the world are interested in developing and exploiting this energy source and have had many expected results. For example, in the Swabian city (Bad Urach), Southern Germany, a geothermal power project is being implemented with a 4,445m deep well (where the temperature is about 1,700 degrees Celsius). In the first phase, the power plant is enough to supply energy for over 2,000 households in the area. In addition, inIceland, a country with only about 300,000 people, but geothermal power accounts for 1/3 of the country's electricity output. Geothermal resources also provide hot water for 87% of the country's households.

The United States is the leading country in geothermal production among the countries in the world that develop geothermal. The US's geothermal power capacity currently accounts for 32% of the geothermal capacity of plants in the world. In the near future, the United States can produce up to 100,000 MW of geothermal power, enough to supply electricity to 25 million households for 50 years (costing about 40 million USD/year) while the initial cost is only about 0.8-1 billion USD.

Despite facing the above economic and technical challenges, geothermal energy scientists still have optimistic forecasts that geothermal exploitation has overcome initial difficulties so that geothermal energy will truly have an important position in the energy sources of the future.

According to chinhphu.vn (LC)