Mr. Davaasuren addressed, “I, hereby, announce this year as the year for Smart Energy System. The entire world is adapting to the usage of a smart system. We have to follow this practice. This will allow us to settle various issues. In doing so, we will involve top-notch programmers, technicians, and engineers, as well as all the government bodies in the energy sector.”

Within the frame, electricity and heat measurement instruments will be installed in power plants, which will drastically reduce the risks of accidents and delays. For instance, the ministry is planning to cooperate with the Russian Federation to install a smart system in turbine generators. The cost is currently unidentified and will be set soon as the ministry assigned tasks to the boards of implementing companies.

According to the ministry, the construction of the Fifth Thermal Power Plant has been suspended due to the dissolution of the consortium. Therefore, the ministry plans to increase the capacities of currently existing power plants. For example, the feasibility study of expanding the capacity of the Second Thermal Powerplant to 300MW has been completed. Additionally, Mr. Davaasuren noted that the night-time electricity discount will further continue in 2019- 2020.

As for the Erdeneburen Hydropower Plant, the ministry has reportedly settled the project financing and is planning to commence the construction this year. However, the Egiin Gol Hydroelectricity project is on a hold-up due to environmental issues. The minister highlighted that the completion of these two hydropower plants will create a fully independent electrical system.

On the air pollution reduction actions, the ministry announced to install a 4 kWh heating equipment in 42,000 households in Ulaanbaatar city.

ENERGY SECTOR FACES MNT 20 BILLION LOSS ANNUALLY

According to the Director General of the Energy Regulatory Commission Tleikhan Almalik, the base electric charge did not change since 2015. Currently, Mongolia is purchasing electricity at MNT 32,000 per kWh and is selling them to private entities at MNT 9,000 per kWh. The annual loss of the energy sector is currently over MNT 20 billion. With the exception of coal, all the materials and equipment are imported, and due to the increase in foreign exchange rates, the deficit has further piled up. Therefore, the commission is planning to revise the base charge this year.