Nomadic herders
With more than 250 days of sunshine per year, Mongolia is known as the ‘land of the eternal blue sky’. Covering an area of 1,566,000 km2, it is home to 3 million inhabitants. Around 800,000 of them live as nomads, moving with their herds of cattle in search of new pastures. Until the start of the new millennium, most of them had no access to electricity.
Tents with electricity
In 2000, the Mongolian government launched its National 100,000 Solar Ger Electrification Programme. Today, 70 % of nomads use mobile solar energy systems, which can power electrical appliances such as freezers, milking machines or LED televisions. The GCPF partner XacBank provides distribution firms with loans that they can use exclusively to import and sell solar systems and solar-powered appliances.
