IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v320y2025ics0360544225010199.html

Portfolio of China's renewable energy legal measures: Conflicts in application and functional harmonization

Author

Listed:
  • Fan, Mingming
  • Liu, Linlin

Abstract

As reforms to the Chinese green power market progress, renewable energy generation continues to increase. Specifically, it includes price safeguard measures represented by Renewable Energy Power Generation Subsidies (REPGS) and quantity safeguard measures represented by Renewable Energy Certificate (REC) and Renewable Electricity Consumption Quota (RECQ). However, a descriptive analysis was conducted on the extracted data revealed that such measures did not achieve the desired goals. Based on the legal perspective, this paper argues that there are three reasons for this gap: (1) Conflict of legal subjects between subsidies for renewable energy generation and subsidies for REC, (2) Mixed legal nature of diversified RECs, (3) conflict between the legal functions of REC and RECQ. A different strategy is required here. This includes clarifying the legal responsibility of grid companies, and defining the environmental benefit value and green financial attributes of REC. Hence, it will accelerate the development of renewable energy power generation, laying the foundation for realizing ‘carbon peaking and carbon neutrality’ and guaranteeing China's energy security and sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Fan, Mingming & Liu, Linlin, 2025. "Portfolio of China's renewable energy legal measures: Conflicts in application and functional harmonization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:320:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225010199
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.135377
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225010199
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.135377?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Amundsen, Eirik S. & Nese, Gjermund, 2009. "Integration of tradable green certificate markets: What can be expected?," Journal of Policy Modeling, Elsevier, vol. 31(6), pages 903-922, November.
    2. Wang, Tan & Gong, Yu & Jiang, Chuanwen, 2014. "A review on promoting share of renewable energy by green-trading mechanisms in power system," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 923-929.
    3. Cherni, Judith A. & Kentish, Joanna, 2007. "Renewable energy policy and electricity market reforms in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(7), pages 3616-3629, July.
    4. Zhang, M.M. & Zhou, D.Q. & Zhou, P. & Liu, G.Q., 2016. "Optimal feed-in tariff for solar photovoltaic power generation in China: A real options analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 181-192.
    5. Li, Jianglong & Huang, Jiashun, 2020. "The expansion of China's solar energy: Challenges and policy options," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 132(C).
    6. Dongdong Song & Boya Jia & Hongtao Jiao, 2022. "Review of Renewable Energy Subsidy System in China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-18, October.
    7. Jäger-Waldau, Arnulf & Szabó, Márta & Scarlat, Nicolae & Monforti-Ferrario, Fabio, 2011. "Renewable electricity in Europe," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 15(8), pages 3703-3716.
    8. Lin, Boqiang & Xie, Yongjing, 2024. "How feed-in-tariff subsidies affect renewable energy investments in China? New evidence from firm-level data," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 294(C).
    9. Zhao, Zhen-Yu & Chen, Yu-Long & Chang, Rui-Dong, 2016. "How to stimulate renewable energy power generation effectively? – China's incentive approaches and lessons," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 147-156.
    10. Wang, Feng & Yin, Haitao & Li, Shoude, 2010. "China's renewable energy policy: Commitments and challenges," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 1872-1878, April.
    11. Fang, Debin & Zhao, Chaoyang & Yu, Qian, 2018. "Government regulation of renewable energy generation and transmission in China’s electricity market," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 775-793.
    12. Dong, Changgui & Zhou, Runmin & Li, Jiaying, 2021. "Rushing for subsidies: The impact of feed-in tariffs on solar photovoltaic capacity development in China," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 281(C).
    13. Liu, Junxia, 2019. "China's renewable energy law and policy: A critical review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 212-219.
    14. Schuman, Sara & Lin, Alvin, 2012. "China's Renewable Energy Law and its impact on renewable power in China: Progress, challenges and recommendations for improving implementation," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 89-109.
    15. Zhang, M.M. & Zhou, D.Q. & Zhou, P. & Chen, H.T., 2017. "Optimal design of subsidy to stimulate renewable energy investments: The case of China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 873-883.
    16. Yang, Xiaolei & He, Lingyun & Xia, Yufei & Chen, Yufeng, 2019. "Effect of government subsidies on renewable energy investments: The threshold effect," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 156-166.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. An, Binghui & Wang, Jingyi & Xu, Hua & Wang, Minggang, 2025. "Research on strategic interactions and evolution mechanisms of multi-agents in power systems from a policy mix perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 335(C).
    2. Xin Huang & Junjie Zhong & Maner Xiao & Yuhui Zhu & Haojie Zheng & Bensheng Zheng, 2025. "Optimal and Sustainable Scheduling of Integrated Energy System Coupled with CCS-P2G and Waste-to-Energy Under the “Green-Carbon” Offset Mechanism," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-27, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Xing Zhu & Baoyu Liao, 2023. "Optimal investment decision for photovoltaic projects in China: a real options method," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 46(5), pages 1-26, December.
    2. Amjad Ali & Wuhua Li & Rashid Hussain & Xiangning He & Barry W. Williams & Abdul Hameed Memon, 2017. "Overview of Current Microgrid Policies, Incentives and Barriers in the European Union, United States and China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-28, June.
    3. Wang, Kai-Hua & Su, Chi-Wei & Lobonţ, Oana-Ramona & Moldovan, Nicoleta-Claudia, 2020. "Chinese renewable energy industries’ boom and recession: Evidence from bubble detection procedure," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 138(C).
    4. Hu, Xing & Guo, Yingying & Zheng, Yali & Liu, Lan-cui & Yu, Shiwei, 2022. "Which types of policies better promote the development of renewable energy? Evidence from China's provincial data," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 198(C), pages 1373-1382.
    5. Zeng, Ming & Li, Chen & Zhou, Lisha, 2013. "Progress and prospective on the police system of renewable energy in China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 36-44.
    6. Zhao, Yujia & McLellan, Benjamin Craig & Wang, Chaofan & Shuai, Jing & Xiang, Wanting & Shuai, Chuanmin, 2026. "Risk dynamics and strategies of China's solar PV industry chain under trade frictions: A review," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 208(C).
    7. Alassi, Abdulrahman & Bañales, Santiago & Ellabban, Omar & Adam, Grain & MacIver, Callum, 2019. "HVDC Transmission: Technology Review, Market Trends and Future Outlook," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 530-554.
    8. Tian, Jianchi & Li, Yang & Sun, Yan & Yang, Bo & Chen, Xuefeng, 2024. "Warming climate apathy to mitigate the disparity in climate policy support across distinct income strata," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    9. Zhang, M.M. & Wang, Qunwei & Zhou, Dequn & Ding, H., 2019. "Evaluating uncertain investment decisions in low-carbon transition toward renewable energy," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 240(C), pages 1049-1060.
    10. Liu, Chang & Liu, Linlin & Zhang, Dayong & Fu, Jiasha, 2021. "How does the capital market respond to policy shocks? Evidence from listed solar photovoltaic companies in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).
    11. Liu, Xiaoran & Ronn, Ehud I., 2020. "Using the binomial model for the valuation of real options in computing optimal subsidies for Chinese renewable energy investments," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    12. Yu, Shiwei & Guo, Yingying & Geng, Haopeng & Hu, Xing, 2025. "The impact and path of influence of central–local government policy synergy on renewable energy development: Evidence from China," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    13. Liang, Yuxiang & Li, Yong & Wang, Dengjia & Zhou, Huilin & Zhang, Qi & Liu, Yanfeng & Lei, Peng & Jing, Dengwei, 2025. "A framework for the design of a direct coupled photovoltaic heating system for remote areas," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 244(C).
    14. Hua, Yaping & Oliphant, Monica & Hu, Eric Jing, 2016. "Development of renewable energy in Australia and China: A comparison of policies and status," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 1044-1051.
    15. repec:gig:chaktu:v:43:y:2014:i:3:p:175-205 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Wang, Yongpei & Yan, Qing & Luo, Yifei & Zhang, Qian, 2023. "Carbon abatement of electricity sector with renewable energy deployment: Evidence from China," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 210(C), pages 1-11.
    17. Bai, Rui & Lin, Boqiang & Liu, Xiying, 2021. "Government subsidies and firm-level renewable energy investment: New evidence from partially linear functional-coefficient models," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 159(C).
    18. Koo, Choongwan & Si, Ke & Li, Wenzhuo & Lee, JeeHee, 2022. "Integrated approach to evaluating the impact of feed-in tariffs on the life cycle economic performance of photovoltaic systems in China: A case study of educational facilities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 254(PB).
    19. Zhu, Chaoping & Fan, Ruguo & Lin, Jinchai, 2020. "The impact of renewable portfolio standard on retail electricity market: A system dynamics model of tripartite evolutionary game," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    20. Liu, Shiyu & Bie, Zhaohong & Lin, Jiang & Wang, Xifan, 2018. "Curtailment of renewable energy in Northwest China and market-based solutions," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(C), pages 494-502.
    21. Ali, Ghaffar & Yan, Ningyu & Hussain, Jafar & Xu, Lilai & Huang, Yunfeng & Xu, Su & Cui, Shenghui, 2019. "Quantitative assessment of energy conservation and renewable energy awareness among variant urban communities of Xiamen, China," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 230-238.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:320:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225010199. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.