Vietnam’s first industrial waste-powered electricity plant has been officially commissioned following an eight-month trial in an inauguration ceremony outside Hanoi on Monday.

The facility, capable of generating electricity from incinerated waste, is located at the Nam Son Waste Treatment Complex in the capital’s outlying district of Soc Son.

Spanning over 16 square kilometers in the district’s Nam Son Commune, the plant uses the latest technology provided by Japan’s Hitachi Zosen Co.

The plant has the capacity to treat 75 metric tons of waste and produce around 1.93 MW of electricity per day.

The facility cost more than VND645 billion (US$28.3 million) to build, with nearly VND472 billion ($20.7 million) funded in the form of non-refundable aid from Japan’s New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO).

Hanoi allocated VND73 billion ($7.58 million) from the state’s budget to cover its share.

The industrial waste power generation plant was put into trial operation in September 2016, according to the Vietnam News Agency.

The facility produced its first batch of electricity on March 16, adding 1.2 MW of power to the national grid.

The lines are being operated by the Hanoi Urban Environment Company (URENCO), under the supervision and evaluation of Japanese experts, before the official technology transfer takes place in October this year.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Hanoi deputy chairman Nguyen Doan Toan hailed the plant a symbol of the special friendship between Vietnam and Japan.

The construction represents a great leap forward in the city’s efforts to protect the environment and recycle waste for industrial development purposes, Toan underlined.

In response, Yoshito Nakajima, a counselor at the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi, recommended that Vietnam improve its legal frameworks to expand the model into other locations.

Japan is willing to help Vietnam implement projects on environmental improvement and energy development, the counselor added.

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