Source: News.mn          Date: August 17, 2011

The government is beginning to plan for a thermal power station to power the Gobi region. reported the Mongolian Mining Journal. The government hopes to complete construction by 2012.

The Deputy Chief of the Energy Policy Board of the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy, D. Purevbayar, told the Mongolian Mining Journal that Oyutolgoi LLC and Erdenes Tavantolgoi LLC cooperated on a memorandum for a thermal power station to with a capacity of 600 megawatts.

Foreign advisors have conducted studies to determine whether the plant should be built in Tavantolgoi or Oyutolgoi. According to one report, a station built in Tavantolgoi would open some four years before one built in Oyutolgoi. However, if the plant is built in Tavantolgoi, Oyutolgoi LLC could still be connected to the energy system.

Although the ministry has expressed interest in the Tavan Tolgoi mining site, no location was officially announced.