Mongolia’s first utility-scale battery, financed by the country’s first non-sovereign municipal bond — an US$87.2 million issue fully subscribed by IFC.
Ulaanbaatar’s peak demand was outgrowing its supply, and Mongolia had no grid-scale storage at all. The obstacle was not technology — it was structure: no Mongolian city had ever raised non-sovereign capital for climate infrastructure. NovaTerra’s work was to invent that structure and prove it could clear.
The Governor’s Office of the Capital City of Mongolia issued a five-year over-the-counter bond by private placement, fully subscribed by IFC with participation from the Canada–IFC Blended Climate Finance Program. It is the first non-sovereign guaranteed municipal bond sold to a foreign investor in Mongolia, IFC’s first municipal investment in Asia Pacific, and the city’s first OTC issuance — creating a new asset class for sustainable infrastructure and freeing public funds for other uses.
The system comprises 27 battery blocks with liquid cooling and battery management, a 110/35 kV substation, control building, transmission line, grid expansion and access roads, connected at the Baganuur 220/110/35 kV substation. It charges on low-cost overnight power and discharges into the evening peak. On-site work began 15 September 2024; the plant first supplied the Central System on 6 December 2024 and delivered roughly 1,800 MWh in its first twelve days.
“Ulaanbaatar is rapidly expanding, and we must ensure our energy infrastructure keeps pace.”Nyambaatar Khishgee — Mayor of Ulaanbaatar and Governor of the Capital City
“Public and private partnerships are essential for mobilizing the capital required to expand energy-efficient measures.”Matthieu Le Blan — IFC Resident Representative for Mongolia
Independent coverage of the project and the transaction.