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Mongolia Opens Grid to Household Solar as New Year Message Touts Growth and Forest Risks Emerge

A new parliamentary push is moving from policy to pilots by letting homes sell surplus power to the grid for the first time.

Overview

  • Parliament’s “100,000 solar homes” drive now allows systems up to 20 kW to connect easily and export excess electricity for income.
  • Speaker N. Uchral visited a UNDP-supported home in Chingeltei where grid sales have begun, with 68 local households newly enabled after rules were simplified and a 14-step approval process was scrapped.
  • Officials estimate that 10,000 households installing 5–10 kW systems could add 50–100 MW of new distributed capacity, with financing solutions to be developed with international partners and banks.
  • President Ukhnaagiin Khürelsükh’s New Year address highlighted 2025 claims of 6% economic growth, GDP per capita above $7,000, foreign reserves at $6 billion, and progress in food-processing initiatives and the “Tsagaan Alt” program.
  • MNB reported national forest data showing about 20% of forest area affected by fires, more than 10% at risk of steppe conversion, and roughly 40% impacted by human activity over three decades, as Ulaanbaatar faces daytime highs near −11 to −13°C with a deeper cold spell forecast.