Mongolia's total renewable energy potential is 2600 gigawatts (GW), over 1000 times larger than the 1.6 GW installed capacity of Mongolia's electricity system1 . In the decades ahead, this potential could be harnessed through the vast solar and wind resources of Mongolia's Gobi Desert. With the effective development of energy transmission infrastructure, these resources could not only meet domestic energy consumption but also fulfill the energy demands of the Northeastern Asian region. Despite its vast renewable energy potential, Mongolia currently depends on coal-fired thermal power plants for about 90 percent of its electricity production. Coal is also the primary source of heating. As a result, the energy sector is the major contributor to significant greenhouse gas emissions and severe air pollution in the country. The amount of electricity produced in Mongolia in 2023 was about 8528 million kWh, an increase of 3.3% or 349.7 million kWh over the year before. The majority of electricity produced, 90.9%, came from combined heat and power plants; the remaining 8.5% came from solar and wind power, 0.6% from hydropower sources, and 0.01% from diesel generators. In addition, the amount of power imported during the reporting period was 2447.6 million kWh, which represents a 13.2% increase over the previous year by 286.3 million kWh.2

Therefore, Mongolia is taking concrete actions to increase development and investment in its renewable energy sector. In particular, Mongolia amended the Renewable Energy Law in 2008, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019, and 2022, adding key provisions to support renewable energy projects. These amendments include the introduction of feed-in tariffs, a competitive auction system for renewable energy projects, project implementation guarantee and other supportive measures.
Mongolia's climate commitments under International Agreements
Mongolia has shown a strong commitment to supporting the ultimate goal of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—limiting global warming to well below 2°C, and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C —through the following actions:

In September 2015, Mongolia adopted its first Nationally Determined Contribution (NDC) to the UNFCCC, committing to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 14% by 2030. In 2019, Mongolia updated its NDC target to 22.7% by 2030. This target includes reducing carbon emissions from the energy production and supply sector by 8.34 million CO2-equivalent (CO2-eq) tonnes and reducing carbon emissions from renewable energy by 2.97 million tonnes CO2-eq3.
To achieve this international commitment, Mongolia is actively working to increase the share of renewable energy in its total installed energy capacity, including wind, solar, and hydropower. It has developed and adopted key state policy documents, such as "Vision-2050" and the "2021 New Recovery Policy." Specifically, Vision-2050, the country's long-term development strategy approved by Parliament in 2020, reflected the government's target to increase the installed renewable energy capacity to 30 percent by 2030.
BY Bolormaa Volodya
Enkh-Uchral Khurelbaatar
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Published Date:2025-06-17