Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
Mongolia has lots of solar and wind energy resources.
And when I mean a lot,
I mean it's abundant resources that is enough to power all of Asia.
The world is rushing to mine the vast deposits of coal under Mongolia,
but here in the land of Genghis Khan,
a wind energy revolution is also underway.
The use of renewable energy in Mongolia -
it is fairly widespread but on very small scales.
They use it at the household level,
they use solar panels very often,
and occasionally small-scale wind turbines.
But the Salkhit Wind Farm is the first commercial renewable energy project in the country.
The first wind farm in this traditionally nomadic country
is just weeks from completion.
This summer, 31 wind turbines will go into action
in an area known in Mongolian as "windy hill".
The reason why we are building Mongolia's first wind farm
is because we have a vision to transform Mongolia
into a clean energy powerhouse of the region.
Eight years ago when we started off with this wind farm project,
people probably thought we were crazy.
But now we're making it a reality.
So this is where we're building the Salkhit Wind Farm.
We're about 70km southeast of the capital city of Ulan Bator.
As you can see, it's, you know, beautiful rolling countryside,
the Mongolian steppe.
Mongolia is growing rapidly
and it's becoming increasingly dependent on fossil fuels.
In winter, Ulan Bator is now the world's most polluted city.
Clean energy project for a city like UB,
we have 1.5 million customers in the city,
is really one of the real solutions to the problem.
The turbines soon to be in use in Salkhit
have been specifically chosen to withstand Mongolia's extreme winter conditions,
where temperatures regularly drop to minus 40 degrees.
On the site there will be 31 turbines.
They are 1.6 megawatt turbines built by General Electric.
Very simply put, these are custom-made turbines,
which means that these turbines are made to withstand the temperature
and also the harsh wind conditions during those times.
Though fossil fuels are pouring billions of dollars into the economy,
the people of Mongolia are increasingly realising the importance of clean energy.
Mongolia and the Mongolian government is very much supportive of renewable energy.
And there is a national target to reach 25% by 2020.
Right now we are providing about 5% of that.
Sustainability is even more important in a country
where herders have long needed to remain in balance with nature.
I think our way of life
traditionally has been a life that lives in harmony with the environment.
This project definitely gives us that sense of harmony
but at the same time we are introducing
one of the most modern and efficient technology into Mongolia.
Following construction,
this entire area, this 7,000 hectares,
will continue to be freely used by the Mongolian nomadic herders as grazing land.
While the Salkhit site is just one small wind farm,
it is likely to be the first of many sites
that could eventually power the whole of the country and beyond.
Currently our company is developing wind farms
in 260,000 hectares of land in the Gobi.
In Mongolia you've got large expanses of land,
you've got more than 300 days per annum of sunlight
and fairly constant wind.
So it has basically the perfect trifecta for renewable energy in the world.
Reporting from the Mongolian grasslands,
this is Kit Gillet and Jonah Kessel for Global Post.