Улаанбаатар
Energy Minister meets Ambassador of France Philippe Merlin
Society
Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/ On October 8, Minister of Energy N.Tavinbekh received Ambassador of the French Republic to Mongolia Philippe Merlin.
Saying that energy is crucial to the prosperity of Mongolia, Ambassador Philippe Merlin highlighted the importance of duties and participation of the Minister of Energy in it. Mongolia is developing collaboration with French private companies in renewable energy sector and the sides shared views on how to resolve some matters.
The French “BRL Engineer” Company provided consulting
service to Prestige Engineering LLC of Mongolia, conducting a study on impact
of Eg River hydroelectric power plant on biodiversity of Selenge River and Lake
Baikal. Although long time has passed, the payment of the contract work has not been sent yet and
the Ambassador asked the Minister to focus attention on this matter alongside the
situation, which is causing difficulty to investors as the amount of electric power, supplied to the integrated power system from Sainshand wind farm, has
decreased to 28 percent.
Energy Minister N.Tavinbekh said that COVID-19 pandemic has caused difficult situation in the sector. The decrease in amount of the electric power, supplied from the renewable energy station was necessary due to declined consumption caused by changes in customer base. It is force-majeure. Moreover, the Minister pledged to attach attention on fulfilling the contract duty regarding the payment of partnership between BRL Engineer Company and Prestige Engineering LLC of Mongolia. Eg River hydroelectric power plant is a project intended to reduce import energy consumption. As the future of the project will depend on the outcomes of the study on the plant’s impact on biodiversity, the Minister stressed the officials are expecting positive response.
