Transformations  in
Business & Economics

THE ECONOMY OF POWER GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES IN CHINA: A REVIEW
Qingyou Yan, Wenhua Zhang, Jiahai Yuan, Yu Ai, Gang Lu

ABSTRACT. Energy structure transition following the low-carbon goals has become imminent in China’s energy development. Indeed, the power generation industry appears as the largest carbon emitter. The Chinese government has embarked on the power market reform which will require more focus on the competitiveness of different power generation technologies, especially during the period after 2020 when the electricity spot market comes into operation. Competitiveness can be measured in terms of costs. Accordingly, the differences in the electricity generation costs across power generation technologies are to affect the energy structure transition. Therefore, the economic analysis of different power generation technologies has become more important in China. In this paper, the mainstream methods for the economic evaluation of different power generation technologies, especially LCOE, LACE and system LCOE, are reviewed. The status quo, as well as projections, are presented for electricity generation costs in China and other countries. In addition, the factors which could influence the economy of power generation technologies in the future are also outlined .

KEYWORDS:  LCOE, LACE, System LCOE, Power generation technologies, China.

JEL classification:  A13, G11, O14.