Does a small difference make a difference? Impact of feed-in tariff on renewable power generation in China

Yimeng Du and Kenji Takeuchi

Energy Economics, 2020, vol. 87, issue C

Abstract: This study investigates the effectiveness of regionally differentiated feed-in tariffs (FIT) for the development of renewable energy in China. By using a spatial regression discontinuity design, we estimate the impacts of regionally differentiated FITs on the outcome indicators of wind and solar power generation, such as utilization rate, installed capacity, power generation, and hours of operation. Our findings show that FIT implementation plays an important role in promoting renewable energy development. A small difference in the tariff rate leads to statistically significant differences in outcome indicators among regions. Our results suggest that regionally differentiated FITs might help mitigate the overproduction of wind electricity in regions with abundant wind resources but low electricity demand. In addition, we conclude that enlarged tariff gap among regions can lead to greater impact on increasing installations of renewable power generation facilities in resource-poor regions.

Keywords: Feed-in tariff; Renewable energy; Renewable curtailment; Spatial regression discontinuity design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q42 Q48 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140988320300499
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
Working Paper: Does a Small Difference Make a Difference? Impact of Feed-in Tariff on Renewable Power Generation in China (2018)
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:eneeco:v:87:y:2020:i:c:s0140988320300499

DOI: 10.1016/j.eneco.2020.104710

Access Statistics for this article

Energy Economics is currently edited by R. S. J. Tol, Beng Ang, Lance Bachmeier, Perry Sadorsky, Ugur Soytas and J. P. Weyant

More articles in Energy Economics from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().