Dutch development bank FMO says it has joined forces with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Triodos Investment Management to finance the construction of the first solar power plant in Mongolia.
The 30 MW solar photovoltaic (PV) plant will be built at Sainshand in the Gobi Desert, 460 km southeast of the capital Ulaanbaatar. FMO, Triodos and EBRD will each participate for one-third (€10.5 million) of the total loan to the project, known as Desert Solar Power One.
Frederik van Pallandt, Director Energy at FMO, said: “Renewable energy currently plays a very small part in Mongolia’s overall energy supply, which is mostly based on highly-polluting old and inefficient coal-fired coal plants from the 1950s and 1960s. So this project really blazes a trail for the country’s transition toward a more sustainable power generation infrastructure and also helps meet rapidly growing demand for energy in its developing economy.”
The loan follows an earlier finance package from FMO and the EBRD in 2012 for the 50 MW Salkhit wind farm, Mongolia’s first ever renewable energy project.
The shareholders in Desert Solar Power One are privately-owned investors United Green Group and the Tucher Group.
