Wood Group’s clean energy business, previously known as SgurrEnergy, is providing engineering support during the construction phase of the Tsetsii Wind Farm in the Gobi desert, southern Mongolia.
Wood Group's experts were appointed by Clean Energy Asia, a joint venture between Mongolia’s Newcom Group and Japanese Softbank Energy, after previously finalising a detailed feasibility study and Environmental and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) on the same project.
The first wind turbine generator has just been erected with Tsetsii Wind Farm due to be completed and fully operational by the end of 2017.
The 50MW site, which comprises 25 Vestas V90 2.0MW wind turbine generators, is the second wind farm of its kind in Mongolia following on from Salkhit Wind Farm, which was officially opened in 2014. Located 500km south of the capital city of Ulaanbaatar and 20km south of the Tsogttsetsii settlement, Tsetsii Wind Farm will help supply Mongolia's power demand with clean, eco-efficient electricity by harnessing Mongolia's vast wind resources.
Wood Group’s clean energy team is currently providing project management support, site monitoring, design and technical reviews, and factory acceptance test witnessing as the owner’s engineer. Wood Group was also involved throughout the feasibility and pre-construction phases, supporting the client through tendering for the engineering, procurement, and construction contract, which included writing the technical specifications, running the tender and evaluating responses as well as supporting contract negotiations.
Brian Macdonald, implementation team leader at Wood Group – clean energy, said: "We are delighted to be building on the relationship which was established with Newcom Group on the development of Mongolia's very first landmark wind farm project in Salkhit.
“With winter temperatures dropping to -40°C (-40°F) and summer temperatures rising to 45°C (113°F) it is safe to say Mongolia’s climate as well as the wind farm’s remote location presented a number of challenges that we are pleased to have worked through.
"After several years of involvement and supporting the project from its feasibility phase and through pre-construction, it is extremely rewarding for me and the team to see the construction entering into its final stage.”
