Mongolia has first smart grid management system installed–from the UK www.pv-magazine.com
Covid-19 border closures meant the first ‘active network management’ system was planned and commissioned for the Asian nation by the U.K. division of Saudi-owned smart grid specialist ZIV Automation.
The travel restrictions imposed on Mongolia during the Covid-19 pandemic led the developers behind the nation's first ‘active network management' (ANM) system to install it entirely remotely, from the U.K.
The system installed by Spanish business ZIV Automation–to free up enough grid capacity to connect a 30 MW solar plant–was developed, tested and commissioned by the U.K. unit of the company.
ZIV–which is owned by Saudi electricals parent Alfanar–was commissioned to enable connection of the Desert Solar Power One solar farm to the Central Energy System, the most expansive of Mongolia's five electricity network sections.
The solar project–built by engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services business Monhorus LLC in Sainshand, Dornogobi province–was enabled to connect to the network ahead of a planned expansion of the Central Energy System grid with 220km of new transmission lines. The smart grid ANM system developed by ZIV Automation manages the network in such a way the 30 MW solar farm can generate at full output other than when the grid nears capacity during demand peaks, when solar production can be curtailed.
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EPC company Monhorus is a joint venture established by local diesel-generator installer Monhorus International and Polish peer Horus Energia.
ZIV Automation says Mongolia's Central Energy System has peak demand of 1.2 GW and generation facilities include 90 MW of solar and 155 MW of wind farms. It is not clear whether the Desert Solar Power One project is included among that 90 MW of solar generation capacity.
English company UB Grid Consultancy Ltd acted as consultant on the ZIV Automation project.
Published Date:2021-03-11