MONGOLIA’S BID TO DODGE THE RESOURCE CURSE THROUGH GREEN POWER
To the west, the Mongolian story so far has been “mine, all mine”. With potential billions at stake, the talk is only about Mongolia’s commodities and the massive infrastructure building opportunities that go with them.
At the same time an affinity for nature and respect for the environment are deep-seated elements of Mongolian culture, naturally so given its nomadic roots. It was this spirit that, back in 2004, inspired the Newcom group to start investigating the possibility of windpower. Eight years later, I was proud to sign the financing this March for the construction of Mongolia’s first ever windfarm, having been partners with Newcom in its development since 2009. By the end of this year 31 turbines, each 100 metres high, will be installed at the Salkhit (meaning “windy”) mountain, 70km outside Ulaanbaatar.
In 2004, the very idea of windpower in Mongolia seemed extraordinary and many asked why a poor, isolated country should invest in such challenging technology. But the project originated and was sustained throughout its development not just by commercial interests but also by a deep respect for the environment and a vision of a future for Mongolia that is sustainable and diverse.
Physically, Mongolia is an extraordinary country – no visitor returns unmoved by its vast, eerie beauty. But it is also fragile and a country of extremes: freezing in winter, baking in summer and dry all year round. Its environment is damaged in many places and Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities in the world, its air quality degraded by the burning of cheap, dirty coal and similar fuels.
The Salkhit windfarm can certainly help with these problems. Its electricity will displace generation that is currently coal-fired, providing about 5 per cent of the nation’s needs from this clean, renewable resource instead. In time other windfarms will follow. As anybody who has ever been blown off their feet by that super-potent Mongolian national resource would testify, it has no shortage of wind and no shortage of empty spaces for windfarms. But intermittent wind power cannot be relied on completely and Mongolia will always need to burn some fuels to generate heat.
The Salkhit windfarm’s impact goes far beyond its immediate effects, however. It makes concrete a vision of Mongolia’s future that takes the benefits of the country’s mineral resources and uses them to create a rich and layered economy. The challenges the project has faced have been enormous: working out how to build and operate a windfarm in minus 35 degrees, developing a power purchase agreement from scratch in an untested regulatory environment, transporting the 80 tonne nacelles for the wind turbines over 200 km of unpaved road, are just some examples. But the project is now becoming reality and it is a statement to the rest of the world that a poor, remote country with many economic and physical obstacles is willing and able to play its part in promoting a sustainable future. Perhaps it even lays down a challenge to richer, more developed countries, to match this commitment.
At one of our first meetings on the project back in 2008 the talk was of electric cars on the streets of Ulaanbaatar, and storing electricity using compressed air in disused mines. These ideas seem far from reality right now. But back in 2004, so did the idea of a windfarm in Mongolia.
Nandita Parshad is director of power and energy at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
In 2004, the very idea of windpower in Mongolia seemed extraordinary and many asked why a poor, isolated country should invest in such challenging technology. But the project originated and was sustained throughout its development not just by commercial interests but also by a deep respect for the environment and a vision of a future for Mongolia that is sustainable and diverse.
Physically, Mongolia is an extraordinary country – no visitor returns unmoved by its vast, eerie beauty. But it is also fragile and a country of extremes: freezing in winter, baking in summer and dry all year round. Its environment is damaged in many places and Ulaanbaatar is one of the most polluted cities in the world, its air quality degraded by the burning of cheap, dirty coal and similar fuels.
The Salkhit windfarm can certainly help with these problems. Its electricity will displace generation that is currently coal-fired, providing about 5 per cent of the nation’s needs from this clean, renewable resource instead. In time other windfarms will follow. As anybody who has ever been blown off their feet by that super-potent Mongolian national resource would testify, it has no shortage of wind and no shortage of empty spaces for windfarms. But intermittent wind power cannot be relied on completely and Mongolia will always need to burn some fuels to generate heat.
The Salkhit windfarm’s impact goes far beyond its immediate effects, however. It makes concrete a vision of Mongolia’s future that takes the benefits of the country’s mineral resources and uses them to create a rich and layered economy. The challenges the project has faced have been enormous: working out how to build and operate a windfarm in minus 35 degrees, developing a power purchase agreement from scratch in an untested regulatory environment, transporting the 80 tonne nacelles for the wind turbines over 200 km of unpaved road, are just some examples. But the project is now becoming reality and it is a statement to the rest of the world that a poor, remote country with many economic and physical obstacles is willing and able to play its part in promoting a sustainable future. Perhaps it even lays down a challenge to richer, more developed countries, to match this commitment.
At one of our first meetings on the project back in 2008 the talk was of electric cars on the streets of Ulaanbaatar, and storing electricity using compressed air in disused mines. These ideas seem far from reality right now. But back in 2004, so did the idea of a windfarm in Mongolia.
Nandita Parshad is director of power and energy at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development
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