Enabling Access to Sustainable Energy

Project details

005 Biogas project in Thanh Hoa province

Project partner

CCRD Vietnam
RCEE Vietnam

Project status

Completed 2008

Project description

Currently in Vietnam, there are no wide scale unsubsidized suppliers of biogas technology outside individual NGO-sponsored projects. As part of the overall EASE strategy in Vietnam, a biogas pilot project was initiated in 2006 in Thanh Hoa province to test the best approaches towards the creation and support of a sustainable biogas market through a network of local suppliers.
The first phase covered only 6 months in 2006 (including only 3 months of construction time) but was sufficient to test both the initial concept of VACVINA chapters as service providers as well as the acceptance and performance of the product (the VACVINA biodigester model). In EASE's 5-step project development strategy, this represents Step 1: "Proving project model", as well as starting Step 2: "Microfranchising project roles".

The overall strategy of establishing throughout Vietnam a sustainable market-driven network of biogas service providers must be envisaged on at least a 5-year process, gradually building the sustainability and innovative capacities of service providers while replicating the model in different areas in the country. Without the EASE contribution, the initial costs of training and marketing would prevent such a network to establish itself. Although the technology used is Vietnamese, its introduction at the district level requires outside financial support.

The budget earmarked for 2007, will allow to train a second technician in each of the initial 20 participating communes of Thanh Hoa. The service suppliers will thus be able to expand the services offered to neighbouring communes. Activities will include:

Training 20 additional technicians (1 in each participating commune)
Building and selling an additional 300 biogas systems to rural households of which 200 will receive discounts: 150 in the 20 original communes (average 7 products per commune) and 50 in neighbouring communes, with 18 % discount. This will create a dynamic to promote suppliers’s competition. The more active suppliers could enjoy a better favour. Total beneficiaries reached will be 300 HH.
Providing further technical, marketing and communication support to the existing biogas shops and suppliers.
Printing and disseminating of 5,000 information flyers for Biogas marketing in neighbour communes, including the most important informations about VACVINA biogas plants that bring benefits to the customers, Hotline for contacting CCRD, Detailed informations of CBO as biogas service suppliers …
Promotional activities such as a competition between suppliers with attractive prizes and exchanges on successful and unsuccessful marketing strategies. The prizes will be handed over to the winners in the form of burners, gas regulator devices…, not cash.
On-going monitoring and end-of-year evaluation will be conducted by the provincial and district officers of VACVINA chapters. The final report will include user satisfaction feedback as well as sales figures and best practices used by the most successful supplier teams.
CCRD will also install a Focus group to get qualitative feedback during project implementation.
Monitoring technical performance: VACVINA model, will be able to compare globally with fixed dome, especially specify gas productivity of VACVINA biogas plants by using gas meter at some selected customers randomly.
All monitoring activities implemented by CCRD will be share with the core team. Set up and procedures will be prepared and discussed in close cooperation with the core team.
Lessons learned, scaling up and project after-life
After each installation, the service supplier will leave a questionnaire to the client who will fill it out after 1,5 to 2 months of operation. The VACVINA officers will be able to validate the data obtained through their own informal reports on client satisfaction.
Meanwhile, CCRD will continue to monitor the overall performance of the established suppliers. It is hoped that the demand created by the project will allow these suppliers to pursue autonomous retailing of biogas plants even with a reduction of the promotional discount from 30% to 18%.

Learning questions

The project promotes the use of biogas technology through a market-oriented approach that ensures both sustainability and appropriation of the benefits by the local communities. The 2007 phase builds on the previous pilot project using lessons learned and consolidating various aspects of the overall programme, such as:

Testing the business model as a package.
Consolidating the network of biogas suppliers at the commune level by training additional technicians.
Testing the expansion model through training of trainers.
Continuing monitoring of customer satisfaction and offering feedback to design/supply.
Introducing monitoring of the technical performance of the system.
Linking the EASE VACVINA brand to guarantee the quality, after sales and warrantee