Mini-grid and off-grid project preparation
- Client Name
- XacBank
- Location
- Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Challenge
XacBank, an accredited entity of the Green Climate Fund (GCF), seeks to finance the development of scalable mini-grid/off-grid systems that will be capable of serving multiple end uses (heating, waste processing and/or removal) under an affordable business model to alleviate utility inadequacies and pollution challenges in Ulaanbaatar’s Ger areas.
Solution
The scope and activities undertaken included -
- assessment of heating/ energy technologies and system configurations to service the heating, human waste processing and hot water needs;
- development of technological eligibility criteria for future systems to be installed under an aspirational mini-grid and off-grid program;
- in-depth cost evaluation of viable technologies to identify optimal size of system to achieve bankability;
- environmental, social and gender studies;
- definition of the project’s key technical, financial, regulatory, social, and political risks and identification of their mitigation options;
- definition of baselines, including project/programme level indicators, to enable mini-grid system impacts to be quantified and development of methodology for XacBank to measure project impacts on ongoing basis;
- business model evaluation, financial modelling, legal advice, procurement strategy and multi-stakeholder engagement to financially structure a proposed programme;
- mini-grid pilot testing, market assessment, knowledge transfer to potential service providers and public awareness strategy for scale-up.
