Archive for 7 Electric Power
China underlines stable prices following oil price hikes
| Date | 2007 11 04 |
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| Author | |
| Publisher | Xinhua |
| Link | http://china-wire.org/?p=152 |
| Attachment | Sorry, no attachments exist. |
China’s Power Sector Reforms: Where to Next?
| Abstract | At the International Energy Agency (IEA), we believe that access to modern energy services is essential for the social and economic development of every country and, more broadly, of the global system. Without reliable and affordable electricity, children have no light to study, food spoils, medical care cannot be provided, and the motors that drive industrial productivity remain idle. Making this service available, however, can be difficult – especially in a vast nation like China where more than 1.2 billion people live, dispersed over 3.7 million square miles of land covering mountains, deserts and remote rural areas. China’s rapid pace of economic growth has created a strong appetite for electricity. In the last two years alone, the country has added nearly 117 GW of capacity – approximately equal to the total electricity capacity of France or Canada. No other country has been able to mobilise its resources to achieve such astounding expansion, particularly after initiating reform and unbundling its power sector. The government of China should be commended for this impressive feat. Despite this notable progress, challenges remain. China must be able to balance the pressures of increasing electricity demand with growing concerns about energy security and environmental impact. Its regulatory framework needs to be designed to ensure investment, encourage energy efficiency, minimise cost and reduce emissions – a very tall order in any circumstance! A number of IEA countries have developed energy policies in pursuit of similar goals. Their results have been mixed, but many lessons have been learned. This book aims to draw insights from IEA countries’ experiences that may be useful for policy makers formulating China’s next steps in power sector reform. At the same time, IEA countries can benefit from this analysis of China’s experience in building one of the world’s largest power sectors. In this increasingly global society, the more we learn from each other, the better we can prepare for a sustainable energy future. |
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| Date | 2006 |
| Author | |
| Publisher | International Energy Agency |
| Link | http://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/chinapower.pdf |
| Attachment | Sorry, no attachments exist. |
Electricity Demand in the People’s Republic of China: Investment Requirement and Environmental Impact
| Abstract | This paper uses a macroeconomic approach to develop a long-run electricity demand model to analyze the main factors affecting electricity demand in the People’s Republic of China (PRC). As expected, the relationship among variables is more stable and significant after the PRC.s economic reforms (1978), when all factors were more responsive to market forces. An error correction model provides an appropriate framework for forecasting the short-run fluctuations in aggregate electricity demand. The demand elasticity of gross domestic product (GDP) is estimated at about 0.8 after the 1978 economic reforms, lower than that of the pre-reform period (before 1978). The results show that although GDP is still the most important factor for electricity demand, electricity demand is negatively related to structural changes and efficiency improvement. This implies that in a fast growing economy such as the PRC, high GDP growth does not always come with high electricity demand and explains why in 1998, when the PRC had an economic growth rate of 7.8 percent, electricity consumption grew by only 2.8 percent. To meet the forecasted demand growth, the total install capacity incremental is estimated to be 187 GW between 2002-2010, while the required investment costs are estimated to be US$193 billion in 2002 prices. The continued growth of coal-fired power plants will increase the share of the power sector in total sulfur dioxide emission from 50 percent in 2001 to 53 percent in 2005. |
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| Date | 2003 03 |
| Author | Asian Development Bank, ADB |
| Publisher | |
| Link | http://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/pub/2003/wp037.pdf |
| Series | ERD WORKING PAPER SERIES NO. 37 |
| Attachment | Sorry, no attachments exist. |