Transforming the Ulaanbaatar heating sector: technology options for

The study assesses decarbonisation pathways for Ulaanbaatar's heating sector, finding that solar assisted ground source heat pumps (SAGSHP) are more cost-effective and less electricity-intensive than full electrification. While SAGSHP increases fixed costs by 30%, it reduces total costs by 9% due to lower electricity demand and reduced requirements for power capacity and grid expansion. The authors argue that reducing the burden on the power sector is essential to decouple heat and power supply and facilitate the penetration of renewables.

• The Ulaanbaatar heating and power sectors are tightly coupled through combined heat and power plants (CHPs), which are the primary source of greenhouse gas emissions. Expanding this existing CHP capacity to meet rising demand risks long-term coal dependency.
• Comparing a scenario using large-scale solar assisted ground source heat pumps (SAGSHP) to one of full electrification shows that SAGSHP reduces electricity demand by 28%.
• Although SAGSHP is more capital intensive, increasing fixed costs by 30%, it results in 9% lower total costs than full electrification. This is achieved through a 22% reduction in required installed power capacity, 23% lower grid expansion costs, and 28% lower variable costs.
• Full electrification may not be the optimal decarbonisation route for Ulaanbaatar because the resulting surge in electricity demand would create high costs for transmission, distribution, and capacity expansions, while maintaining system inflexibilities that hinder renewable energy penetration.
• The study identifies three necessary transformations for decarbonising the sector: improving building envelopes and district heating networks for energy efficiency, expanding renewable energy power capacity, and integrating novel renewable energy-based heating technologies.

APA

NewClimate Institute (2022). Transforming the Ulaanbaatar heating sector: technology options for. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/transforming-the-ulaanbaatar-heating-sector-technology-options-for

Chicago

NewClimate Institute. Transforming the Ulaanbaatar heating sector: technology options for. 2022. http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/transforming-the-ulaanbaatar-heating-sector-technology-options-for.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=NewClimate Institute |title=Transforming the Ulaanbaatar heating sector: technology options for |date=11 October 2022 |url=http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/transforming-the-ulaanbaatar-heating-sector-technology-options-for |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{newclimateinstitute2022transforming, author = {{NewClimate Institute}}, title = {{Transforming the Ulaanbaatar heating sector: technology options for}}, institution = {NewClimate Institute}, year = {2022}, month = oct, url = {http://www.newclimate.org/resources/publications/transforming-the-ulaanbaatar-heating-sector-technology-options-for}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }