Minister of Energy B.Choijilsuren answered journalists’ questions about energy tariffs on October 2. He said, “For many years, we talked about bringing the price of energy in line with market principles and bringing it to the real cost. If the income of the economy, citizens, and enterprises stabilizes in the first half of next year, we will talk about increasing the price of electricity. Otherwise, the loss of the energy sector this year is estimated to be about 200 billion MNT. So, we have no choice but to increase the price of energy. However, we are wary of making such a decision when the income is not stable after the world economy is shaken due to the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war.”

The minister also stated, “Mongolia’s energy consumption has exceeded the installed capacity for a long time. This problem cannot be solved in one year. But this winter may be a bit calmer. We are working to install a battery storage system with a capacity of 80 MW at the Songino substation in late November or early December. In the Dornod Power Plant, 50 MW of power will be added. Compared to last year, the consumption will increase by six to seven percent, so it will meet the previous year’s level. The first round of Buuruljuut Power Plant’s 150 MW will be installed in Q4, 2024. We plan to put the next 150 MW block into operation in Q1 and Q2, 2025. In this case, it means that we will have some energy reserves from 2025.”

The operating loss of the energy sector was 45.1 billion MNT in 2010, 18.9 billion MNT in 2015, 88.1 billion MNT in 2020, and 187.3 billion MNT in 2022. Some media reported that Russia may stop supplying energy to Mongolia and other countries from this month or may reduce the amount. When asked, the Minister said, “There was no discussion about stopping the supply of energy to us.”