Source: The Mongolian Mining Journal                Date: 21 June, 2011

Mr. T. Tserenpurev, Director General of Energy Policy Department at the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, recently explained to media why the Government has decided to build a power plant in the South Gobi region ahead of schedule. He said development work on the Oyu Tolgoi project has been faster than expected and the power would be needed much earlier than earlier thought. For this, the Government has given the company permission to make arrangements to import power from China for the time. “However, since we shall build a plant, it makes no sense to delay it until 2016, because the earlier Mongolia produces power, the sooner the need for imports will go,” he said. Now that construction of the plant has been brought forward, he hoped the election would not delay matters.

He was also asked where the plant would come up. The original decision was taken on the basis of recommendations made by the Minerals Ministry and the National Development and Innovation Committee but further studies revealed that adequate water could be a problem in Tavan Tolgoi. There is underground water but this will be needed for the coal washing plant. There may still be enough for the power plant and “we have not taken any firm decision to shift it from Tavan Tolgoi,” he said, adding, “Indeed, we would like to stick to the original plan of having the power station in the TT deposit area, but the whole water issue needs careful re-evaluation. We have called in experts from Singapore and will compare our views with what they say.”