GEO-Thermal/Water Desalination Rollout in Vietnam

The Vietnam Renewable Energy Consortium is seeking 5 Geo-thermal Power Generators & 5 Multi-Effect-Desalination solution providers to partner with WCCC in providing more than 100MW of new Renewable Energy generation and more than 100,000 m3/ day of potable water to drought stricken provinces of Vietnam.

According to the official report, there are 269 geothermal resources which have so far been discovered in Vietnam. 140 warm springs & 80 hot springs, of which 41 of them are very hot, and 4 are extremely hot. There is little doubt Vietnam has significant potential for geothermal energy production.

Furthermore the areas of most potential are located in regions which have suffered hugely from the 2015-16 drought: the worst in recorded history.

The design of the co-generation plants will maximize the harvested latent heat from the geo-thermal plants by passing the turbine exhaust steam into a multiple effect distillation system and then into an adsorption desalination system. The above processes will be fully integrated to produce electricity, desalinated water for consumer consumption, and make-up water for the geothermal extraction system.

Further improvements in operational efficiency will be achieved by adding a reverse osmosis system to the site to utilize some of the generated electricity at times when the grid may not want it all. Also we envisage adding an on-site aquifer storage and recovery system to maximize water production in line with seasonal capacity requirements, and to meet facility maintenance requirements.

WCCC as the facilitator of the 5 prospective cogeneration Geo-thermal/Desalination plants, which will be base load power generation plants, will secure 20 year Power & Water Purchase Agreements with the respective authorities of Vietnam. It will also gain tax & land concessions for each project.

The 5 projects proposed will maximize usage of geothermally harvested heat and greatly improve the economics of geothermal energy development in Vietnam. At the same time these plants will deliver water & food security to a large number of cities & communities within Vietnam, which because of climate change, are presently being decimated by drought and saline intrusion into their river systems.