Competitiveness of hydropower price and preferential policies for hydropower development in Tibet and the Sichuan-Yunnan Tibetan area of China

Abstract

Tibet and the Sichuan-Yunnan Tibetan area have enormous potential for hydropower development. Therefore, accelerating hydropower development in these areas can contribute to water resource utilisation and help relieve the poverty, which has also become a necessary choice of national strategic importance to comply with energysaving, emission reduction, and 'power transmission from west to east' policies. Under existing policies, research has shown that the basic costs of electricity from the typical plants in Tibet and the Sichuan-Yunnan Tibetan area are high and uncompetitive, so that investment enthusiasm for hydropower companies will wane and water resource utilisation will be affected. In this study, we suggest policies to improve the competitiveness and sustainability of the hydropower development in the Tibet and Sichuan-Yunnan Tibetan areas; eventually, the water resources therein can be more effectively utilised. Research has indicated that drafted preferential policies can effectively decrease the cost price. Additionally, the hydropower industry in these areas should be incorporated into the national primary energy balance, forming a government-dominated market mechanism. This would consist of a mandatory market share of the hydropower transmitted from Tibet and the Sichuan-Yunnan Tibetan area and hydropower-carbon trade mechanismthe aim being to promote the consumption of hydropower across the nation.

Analyses on Characteristics of Spatial Distribution and Matching of the Human–Land–Water–Heat System on the Yunnan Plateau

“…Because the Yunnan Plateau is at the end of the range of influence of the East Asian monsoon in summer, it can be attributed to the fact that the source of the rainfall-producing water vapor is weaker than that of the southwest monsoon region of the Indian Ocean, and, accordingly, the magnitude of its change is much smaller. As show in Figure 6c, irrespective of whether the stations are in the southeast monsoon area or the southwest monsoon area, the Gini coefficient of monthly precipitation shows no clear pattern with change in longitude, indicating that the intra-annual variation in precipitation is not significantly influenced by longitude, which is consistent with the research results of Liu et al [36]. Other than that derived from water vapor associated with the East Asian monsoon, precipitation in the areas of Weixin, Zhenxiong, and Yanjin in the northeast of the Yunnan Plateau is also caused by the uplifting of evaporation owing to high temperatures and to increased water vapor in the northern Sichuan Basin moving along the Wumeng Mountains.…”

A High-Precision Modeling and Error Analysis Method for Mountainous and Canyon Areas Based on TLS and UAV Photogrammetry

“…The YBT hydropower station is located upstream of the Jinsha River and is the 7 th level in the 13-level development plan. The upstream station is the Bolo hydropower station, and the downstream station is the Lava hydropower station [53,54]. The station is located in the lower reaches of the Jinsha River at the mouth of the Jiaogou River, which marks the border between Baiyu County, Sichuan Province and Gongga County, Tibet (Fig.…”

Hydropower Pricing Options for Cross-Border Electricity Trading in China Based on Bi-Level Optimization

“…Electricity prices are regarded as the bridge between energy harvesting and monetary income, which directly affects the profits of electric power enterprises and their ability to expand reproduction, ultimately affecting the sustainable development of the power industry. Unlike thermal plants, whose capital is concentrated on coal, the investment in CHSs is mainly for the construction and maintenance of reservoirs and dams [47]. Large reservoirs and dams are indispensable to CHSs, but require larger investments, longer construction periods, and more difficult capital recovery than runoff stations [48], making it necessary to guide investment through rational pricing mechanisms [49].…”