Source: Udriin Sonin                         Date: 21 September, 2011

Following the completion of preparation, the National Security Council ordered construction on a new power plant to begin this year.The government completed its feasibility study on Mongolia's fifth power plant to be built and will begin construction this year. The study was conducted with financing by ADB and the Ministry of Mineral Resources and Energy's Science and Technology Board.The sum of investment for the project is USD 1.4 billion; USD 600 million of which is needed for the project's first phase of construction. Project planners intend to complete the project by 2015 and reach full capacity by 2020. The plant will help alleviate an expected power shortage in Mongolia in 2015.
To the benefit of foreign investors, a resolution passed by parliament dictates that by 2014 the government will loosen its tight control over electricity prices. However, the law also said this should be done without creating a greater burden to citizens. Currently the government offers discounts to citizens whose monthly electric usage falls below 150 kilowatts.Mongolian electricity consumption reached its peak in 1989 and finally returned to that level in 2008.