Mongolia is set to install its first large-scale battery energy storage system (BESS) to enable its move to a larger renewable power supply following a $100 million loan From The Asian Development Bank (ADB).
The project will install 125MW of storage that will include a battery energy management system to enable it to be charged entirely by renewable power.
The ESS will deliver peak shifting services and regulation reserve to the central energy system grid when completed in late 2024.
James Lynch, director general of ADB’s East Asia Department, said: “Mongolia is among the most heavily coal dependent developing member countries of ADB, and its energy sector is the largest contributor to its greenhouse gas emissions, accounting for about two-thirds of the total.
“The project will lead to the decarbonisation of the energy system in the country with increased penetration of renewable energy.”
In 2018, coal-fired combined heat and power plants contributed to 93% of the country’s total power generation in the electricity grid.
Its government now aims to increase the share of renewable energy in total installed capacity to 20% in the next three years and 30% by 2030, in line with the country’s State Policy on Energy, 2015–2030.
The project aims to increase the country’s renewable energy capacity by 44GWh annually on completion.
The project will cost $115million in total, of which $3 million is co-financed by a grant from ADB’s High Level Technology Fund, financed by the Government of Japan. The government of Mongolia will provide $12 million toward the cost of the project.