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Introducing the emissions trading system to China’s electricity sector: Challenges and opportunities

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  • Teng, Fei
  • Wang, Xin
  • Zhiqiang, LV

Abstract

We examine the challenges and opportunities to introduce emissions trading (ETS) in China’s electricity sector, in which the interaction between ETS and electricity market reform plays a major role. China’s electricity sector is currently in a slow progress towards a more competitive and market-based system. Both equal share dispatching policy and regulated wholesale and retail pricing policies pose significant challenges for implementation of ETS in China’s electricity sector. One of the important points of ETS is to give a price for carbon emissions and establish a cost pass-through mechanism (reminded that the essential of carbon pricing is to put a price on carbon emissions that is equal to discounted value of the external damages). It should be regarded as a part of broader policy package for energy and resources price reform. This will require that any low-carbon power policy should be considered as a part of whole policy package aiming at further liberalizing the electricity sector in China. Three policy options are identified to incorporate ETS with electricity reform under different circumstances. A combination of those three options is also proposed to break the lock and reinforce the positive interaction between ETS and the transition towards a competitive electricity system, in link with current pilot ETS designs. A roadmap to introduce ETS in a stepwise manner is suggested.

Suggested Citation

  • Teng, Fei & Wang, Xin & Zhiqiang, LV, 2014. "Introducing the emissions trading system to China’s electricity sector: Challenges and opportunities," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 39-45.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:enepol:v:75:y:2014:i:c:p:39-45
    DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2014.08.010
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    6. Yanni Yu & Weijie Zhang & Ning Zhang, 2018. "The Potential Gains from Carbon Emissions Trading in China’s Industrial Sectors," Computational Economics, Springer;Society for Computational Economics, vol. 52(4), pages 1175-1194, December.
    7. Wang, Ke & Wei, Yi-Ming & Huang, Zhimin, 2016. "Potential gains from carbon emissions trading in China: A DEA based estimation on abatement cost savings," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 48-59.
    8. Flavio Menezes & Xuemei Zhang, 2016. "Regulatory Incentives for a Low-Carbon Electricity Sector in China," Discussion Papers Series 562, School of Economics, University of Queensland, Australia.
    9. Sebastian Levi & Christian Flachsland & Michael Jakob, 2020. "Political Economy Determinants of Carbon Pricing," Global Environmental Politics, MIT Press, vol. 20(2), pages 128-156, May.
    10. Zhang, Kun & Yao, Yun-Fei & Liang, Qiao-Mei & Saren, Gaowa, 2021. "How should China prioritize the deregulation of electricity prices in the context of carbon pricing? A computable general equilibrium analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    11. Chen, Hao & Tang, Bao-Jun & Liao, Hua & Wei, Yi-Ming, 2016. "A multi-period power generation planning model incorporating the non-carbon external costs: A case study of China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 1333-1345.
    12. Ju, Yiyi & Fujikawa, Kiyoshi, 2019. "Modeling the cost transmission mechanism of the emission trading scheme in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 172-182.
    13. Wu, Rui & Dai, Hancheng & Geng, Yong & Xie, Yang & Masui, Toshihiko & Tian, Xu, 2016. "Achieving China’s INDC through carbon cap-and-trade: Insights from Shanghai," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 1114-1122.
    14. Qian Wang & Cuiyun Gao & Shuanping Dai, 2019. "Effect of the Emissions Trading Scheme on CO 2 Abatement in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-13, February.
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