Techno-economic analysis case study of energy production utilizing cashew shell agro-waste in Vietnam

In this paper, a system for energy production from biomass combustion to provide electricity to the national grid of Vietnam was evaluated based on different thermodynamics systems and the cultivation capacity of the local area. A 20:80 mixture of cashew shell and cashew wood chip is considered as fuel source to be combusted utilizing a fixed bed technology with high energy efficiency. Considering a 10 MW production capacity to the national grid, a 20-year Net Present Value analysis and payback time evaluation was considered based on the economic factors in Vietnam. The study demonstrates how the current feed-in tariff in Vietnam is too low to encourage investment in biomass power plant. Following a suggested electricity selling price that is close to the household electric cost, the power plant shows high potential with a short payback period of 9.22 years and a levelized cost of electricity (LCOE) of only 6.4 cents/kWh. Sensitivity analyses were performed for different scenarios of material cost, electricity selling price and initial investment to show that within a 10 % variation in process factors, such project would still be able to reach payback within 20 years, with an overall LCOE of around 5–7 cents/kWh, proving the high potential of biomass-based energy production projects. •An unprecedented cashew nutshell and woodchip fuel blend is used for practicality.•On-site biomass collection and analysis were performed for accurate assessment.•FiT should be adjusted to around the household electric price to achieve payback.•An LCOE of only 6.3 cents/kWh can be attained after a 20-year lifetime.•A 10 % reduction in electricity price can increase 4 years to the payback period.