Mongolia on Thursday opened its first wind farm, a landmark $122 million project that aims to shift the country's reliance on coal and tackle the pollution choking its capital Ulan Bator.

 

A total of 31 turbines have been erected at the facility, which are expected to power five percent of electricity needs in a country undergoing rapid transformation on the back of a spectacular boom in mining —particularly coal.

 

Backers hope the 50-megawatt facility erected 70 kilometres (43 miles) southeast of Ulan Bator at a windy ridge called Salkhit will be the first step in a national drive to harness cleaner energy in the mineral-rich country.

 

Fifteen of the wind turbines were switched on at Thursday's opening ceremony, with the remainder to become operational next month.

 

The Mongolian capital was ranked the planet's second-most polluted city by the World Health Organization in a 2011 report, largely due to its coal-fired power stations and residents burning coal to keep warm in winter, when temperatures can plummet to a punishing minus 30 degrees celsius (minus 22 fahrenheit).

 

The new wind farm — which will supply 140-170 million kilowatt/hours of power each year tothe national grid — will reduce demand for coal by 122,000 tonnes a year, helping the government meet a target for renewable resources to make up 20 per cent of the country's energy needs.

 

Eighty per cent of energy requirements currently come from coal in Mongolia, where more than $1 trillion worth of untapped resources are underground.