General Electric Co. on Thursday said its turbines will be used on a Mongolian wind farm being built by Newcom LLC, a diversified company based in the northeast Asian country.
In a statement, GE estimated the cost of the Salkhit Wind Farm at $100 million but didn’t put a value on the turbines themselves. The Fairfield, Conn., conglomerate described the deal as its “entry to Mongolia” and “a strategic move.”
The economy of coal-rich Mongolia is sizzling. Thursday’s statement said that despite Mongolia’s huge deposits of coal, the nation is committed to boosting its use of clean-energy generation.
The statement said the wind project, due to open in 2012 about 70 kilometers (about 40 miles) southeast of the capital, would supply electricity equal to about 5% of Mongolia’s current installed electric-power generating capacity.
“This is a milestone in the development of GE’s relationship with Mongolia and our teaming with Newcom,” GE Vice Chairman John Rice was quoted as saying in the statement.
The statement quoted Newcom CEO Bayanjargal Byambasaikhan as saying “energy demand in Mongolia is increasing by 8-10% a year.”
