Tavan Tolgoi residual deposits have a total methane reserve of up to 10 billion cubic meters. “One cubic meter of methane gas equals one-liter diesel fuel in terms of energy. In other words, the deposits have 10 billion liters of diesel fuel reserves. The annual average domestic demand is a bit over one million tons. Since the energy source is gas, it is environmentally friendly and can be used directly on-site,” according to the spokesperson of the Ministry of Energy.

According to scholars, extracting methane gas is highly efficient for the economy as the demand is currently high in China’s market. By extracting methane gas, Mongolia can annually export about 800 MW electricity. Plus, the gas can be liquified for domestic use and transported to the People’s Republic of China via both auto road, and gas pipes.

If supplied to the domestic market, the methane can cut the current cost per kWh of electricity by half. Specifically, the zero-loss price of methane gas is MNT 44-63 and the cost of equal energy production currently stands to about MNT 100.

Mongolia has an installed electricity capacity of 1.1 Gw. The national electricity grid, which consists of five systems, is in urgent need to increase the capacity of the Southern energy system. The undersupply is filled in by import from China at present. Although the upcoming Tavan Tolgoi Thermal Power Plant will solve the problem, the construction will take about 3-5 years. Thus, scholars are suggesting the use of coalbed methane gas to directly supply this gap.

ETT has announced 2019 "the year of development". With an aim to improve the efficiency of Tavan Tolgoi mine, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with MNCS on adopting cutting-edge technology, refined coal, natural gas, ensuring the workers’ health, and developing ecologically friendly production.