How Tariff Freezes and Subsidies Delay Mongolia’s Energy Sector Reform
Mongolia is building a physical hedge against winter power shortages. It is also weakening the finances needed to make that hedge work.
Ulaanbaatar’s Soviet-era combined heat-and-power system leaves the capital particularly exposed to cold snaps.
Central plants must generate electricity while supplying hot water to apartment radiators, turning winter heating demand into a power-system problem.
The capital already faces a municipal heating deficit of 1,121 MW, while national electricity consumption is rising by 8% to 10% a year. Last winter, grid operators cut 21 MW of peak load to prevent a wider failure. Domestic plants cannot yet meet peak demand, leaving Mongolia dependent on imports to keep the capital heated and lit.
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