This initiative is a partnership to promote green recovery in Vietnam by scaling up sustainable electricity generation at large and medium-sized pig farms using state-of-the-art equipment.

The partnership uses on-site biogas to generate electricity benefiting the climate and reducing costs for farmers. This initiative is funded by the Australian Government and will run from 2021 to 2024, with DFAT contribution of AUD 750,000 and partner contributions of AUD 4,200,000.

The livestock sector in Vietnam accounts for 28% of agriculture and is one of the fastest-growing agricultural subsectors, even during the COVID-19 pandemic. It is also highly polluting, emitting 15 million tons of CO2 annually into the atmosphere. Commercial farms will be confronted with strict discharge, emission, and bio-security regulations in the coming decade. In addition, the energy component of farms' operational costs will increase markedly. Through the Business Partnerships Platform (BPP), the Australian Government supports inclusive business partnerships to help promote green and resilient COVID-19 economic recovery in Vietnam.

This initiative aims to scale up an existing biogas-to-bioenergy model in Vietnam to provide medium and large pig farms with cheap, secure, and sustainable energy. Currently, there are over 8,500 large and medium-sized commercial pig farms in Vietnam with biogas digesters for manure treatment. Almost all biogas plants produce biogas well above the demand for cooking. As a result, biogas is being either flared or released into the atmosphere without burning, increasing greenhouse gas emissions.

E-GREEN's biogas-to-electricity solution will generate clean electricity for internal use and sale back into the national electricity grid, reducing energy costs for farms by 20 – 30%.

Installing biogas generators for electricity is not a well-known or popular product in Vietnam, but the potential is there. The partnership will enable E-GREEN to raise awareness of the product and purchase equipment upfront, accelerating the scale-up.

The Greenhouse gas emission reduction from this project will be linked to international carbon markets providing a revenue stream for E-GREEN and securing the business model.

Women in business

The initiative will implement the following strategies to promote women in business:

• Prioritising women-led farms and supporting their development.

• Equal ownership of Biogas generation systems to improve decision-making in the home.

• Flexible working conditions within the workplace, including ethical hiring standards.

• Inclusive training tailor-made for women to increase employability

Partners

The partnership brings together five partners:

• Australian Government (DFAT) is contributing catalytic funding, gender expertise to strengthen social and commercial impacts, connection to an extensive network, capability building on capturing and reporting social impact, safeguards, standards and practices, and national and global recognition.

• E-GREEN is a Vietnamese eco-engineering company empowering farms to reduce carbon footprints by becoming more sustainable. EGREEN will contribute its skills to install biogas-electricity generation systems, setting up an ESCO business model that allows farmers to generate their own electricity.

• SNV Netherlands Development Organisation assists E-GREEN with marketing material, product quality control and gender mainstreaming business. SNV is responsible for the implementation of emission reduction activities under the carbon project.

• Nexus for Development is the leading carbon project developer in Southeast Asia; Nexus will develop the partnership's carbon project component, which will connect the on the ground activities to international carbon markets to drive revenue to the partnership.

• HD Bank is a local bank in Vietnam with a high profile in green investment. HD Bank will provide support to E-GREEN and pig farmers through loans to promote green-environment projects in Vietnam.