A geospatial assessment of the techno-economic wind and solar potential of Mongolia

•Development of a GIS-based approach for renewable energy site suitability.•A techno-economic potential assessment for Wind and PV in Mongolia is performed.•An economic wind potential of 0 to 73.36GW is calculated.•5.12 TW and 1.11 GW of economic potential of ground-mounted PV and rooftop PV are identified. Even though the country's geographic and climatic characteristics are favourable for renewable energy technology, Mongolia's power infrastructure has a large carbon footprint. Therefore, it is crucial to determine Mongolia's economic potential for solar and wind energy. The technological and financial potential of solar and wind energy in Mongolia is determined in a two-step approach while considering the geographical feasibility. In order to include physical-geographical limits such as slope and socio-geographical constraints such as protected areas in the assessment of renewable energy potential, a GIS-based technique for assessing the appropriateness of possible renewable energy sites is first created. This is followed by an energy potential tool which calculates the technical and economic potential. The combined technical wind and solar potential is estimated to be 7.25TW capacity and 12.17PWh/year of electricity. The results indicate an economic wind potential capacity of 0 to 73.36GW (0 to 123.10TWh/year). The economic potential of ground-mounted PV is 5.12TW (9.57PWh/year) and rooftop PV is 1.11GW (1.92TWh/year). In addition, the estimated area suitable for wind power plants is 325 431 km2, ground-mounted PV is 118 484 km2 and rooftop PV is about 27 km2.