JGC receives permission to build utility-scale solar-plus-storage power plant in Mongolia

A consortium led by Japanese engineering company JGC Holdings has been awarded the contract to build Mongolia's first utility-scale solar-plus-storage power plant by the country's energy ministry, pv magazine reported on March 22.

The 5 MW/3.6 MWh power plant will reportedly be built in partnership with Mongolian EPC contractor MCS International LLC and Japanese ceramics company and network attached storage (NAS) provider NGK Insulators Ltd, which will provide its large-scale sodium-sulfur-based battery systems for the project. “NGK's NAS batteries are capable of storing electricity even in extremely cold and extremely hot environments and were suitable for the weather conditions in Mongolia,” Yuki Ichihara, of JGC Holdings' Group Development Management Department, told the journal.

“NGK believes that the order for this project was won as a result of strong evaluations of NAS batteries’ ability to offer a large capacity and long discharge time, along with NGK’s extensive delivery and long-term operational track records,” the Japanese battery provider said in a separate statement.

The plant will be located in Uliastai, in Mongolia's Zavkhan Province, and will come online in the spring of 2022, the company said.

The project is being financed by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the Joint Crediting Mechanism (JCM), which was established by the Japanese Ministry of Environment at the ADB itself.

The tender for the project was launched by the Mongolian authorities in February. It is part of the Upscaling Renewable Energy Sector Project, which aims to deploy 40.5 MW of solar and wind capacity in the country’s western and Altai-Uliastai regions.

Mongolia’s installed PV capacity stood at just 89 MW at the end of 2019, according to statistics published by the International Renewable Energy Agency. In 2017, Mongolia had to import around 20% of its required electricity.