A geospatial assessment of the techno-economic wind and solar potential of Mongolia

Even though the country's geographic and climatic characteristics are favourable for renewable energy tech-nology, Mongolia's power infrastructure has a large carbon footprint. Therefore, it is crucial to determine Mongolia???s economic potential for solar and wind energy. The technological and financial potential of solar and wind energy in Mongolia is determined in a two-step approach while considering the geographical feasibility. In order to include physical-geographical limits such as slope and socio-geographical constraints such as protected areas in the assessment of renewable energy potential, a GIS-based technique for assessing the appropriateness of possible renewable energy sites is first created. This is followed by an energy potential tool which calculates the technical and economic potential. The combined technical wind and solar potential is estimated to be 7.25 TW capacity and 12.17 PWh/year of electricity. The results indicate an economic wind potential capacity of 0 to 73.36 GW (0 to 123.10 TWh/year). The economic potential of ground-mounted PV is 5.12 TW (9.57 PWh/year) and rooftop PV is 1.11 GW (1.92 TWh/year). In addition, the estimated area suitable for wind power plants is 325 431 km(2), ground-mounted PV is 118 484 km(2) and rooftop PV is about 27 km(2).

Automated summary

Although Mongolia has favorable geographic and climatic characteristics for renewable energy, its power infrastructure has a large carbon footprint. Therefore, it is crucial to determine the economic potential of solar and wind energy in Mongolia. A two-step approach is utilized, considering geographical feasibility, to assess the technological and financial potential of these renewable energy sources. A GIS-based technique is used to evaluate the suitability of potential sites, followed by an energy potential tool to calculate technical and economic potential. The results indicate a combined technical wind and solar potential of 7.25 TW capacity and 12.17 PWh/year of electricity.