Spatial distribution of coal-fired power plants in China

Xie, Luhua; Huang, Ying; Qin, Ping

doi:10.1017/s1355770x18000098

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…The reason behind the differences in the inter-regional inefficiency values among the regions could be the economic level of the regions. Xie et al [30] stated that economic growth is one of the driving factors of new construction of coal-fired thermal power plants in China. Since the eastern region is the most developed area in China, the growing electricity demand in the east induced the new construction of large power plants with advanced technology in that region, which may contribute to lowering the inter-regional inefficiency of the LARGE group in that region.…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources of inefficient power generation by coal-fired thermal power plants in China: A metafrontier DEA decomposition approach

Eguchi

Takayabu

Lin

2021

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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China is the world's largest CO2 emitting country and coal-fired thermal power generation accounted for over 50% of total electricity generation in China in 2015. This study reports the changes in power generation efficiency of coal-fired thermal power plants in China from 2009 to 2011 and how the differences in the production scale of the power plants and regional heterogeneity affect the power generation efficiency. We propose a metafrontier data envelopment analysis (DEA) decomposition framework to investigate the sources of inefficiency in power generation. The results suggest that on average, power generation efficiency of the large-scale power plants is 13% higher than that of the small-scale power plants. Although operational inefficiency is the main source of inefficiency in eastern and central China, the technology gap-the differences in the quality of coal consumed for electricity production and in the equipment of the power plants among the regions is the main source of inefficiency in western China. This study uses the results of the framework to discuss the scrapping policies for the coal-fired thermal power plants in China. For large-scale power plants in western China, the components of inefficiency vary and thus policymakers should consider scrapping the thermal power plants based not only on the level of inefficiency but also on its components.

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Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Sources of inefficient power generation by coal-fired thermal power plants in China: A metafrontier DEA decomposition approach

Eguchi

Takayabu

Lin

2021

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews

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“…Regional heterogeneity in economic development is one of the primary reasons for the remarkably lower inter-regional factor in the eastern and central regions compared to the west and northeast. Xie et al [47] revealed that economic development is a driving force for the construction of CTPPs in China. The eastern and central Chinese regions are more economically developed; thus, the introduction of power plants with leading-edge Regional heterogeneity in economic development is one of the primary reasons for the remarkably lower inter-regional factor in the eastern and central regions compared to the west and northeast.…”

Section: Metafrontier Dea Decomposition Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The eastern and central Chinese regions are more economically developed; thus, the introduction of power plants with leading-edge Regional heterogeneity in economic development is one of the primary reasons for the remarkably lower inter-regional factor in the eastern and central regions compared to the west and northeast. Xie et al [47] revealed that economic development is a driving force for the construction of CTPPs in China. The eastern and central Chinese regions are more economically developed; thus, the introduction of power plants with leading-edge technology has historically been promoted, contributing to the lower inter-regional factor in these areas.…”

Section: Metafrontier Dea Decomposition Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

CO2 Reduction Potential from Efficiency Improvements in China’s Coal-Fired Thermal Power Generation: A Combined Approach of Metafrontier DEA and LMDI

Eguchi

2022

Energies

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Among the G20 countries, China is the only country to experience an increase in electricity generation from coal-fired thermal power plants from 2019 to 2020. This study aims to develop an analytical framework combining metafrontier data envelopment analysis with the logarithmic mean Divisia index for a detailed decomposition analysis of ‘mass-based’ energy-related CO2 reduction potential through efficiency improvements in coal-fired thermal power plants in China. The results show that inefficiency in power generation can be largely attributed to differences in the location of power plants and the production scale. Moreover, the impact of regional heterogeneity on the changes in power generation efficiency is more notable for the small–medium power plants in the northeast region than the large power plants in the western region in China. However, when focusing on the mass-based CO2 reduction potential associated with the regional heterogeneity, its positive effects in the western region for the large power plants are 6.2 times larger than that in the northeast region for the small–medium power plants. These results imply that an analysis that focuses only on the efficiency score would ignore the production scale of coal-fired thermal power plants and thus would fail to properly evaluate the environmental impacts associated with efficiency changes.

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“…Spatially variable scale factors of 2.1-6.8 are applied to seven grid squares for the MEIC SO2 emissions. These are concentrated in Shanxi province west of BTH, a region with large coal-fired power plants (Xie et al, 2018). These grids account for the majority of the domain average 42% underestimate in modelled SO2 concentrations.…”

Section: Bth Air Pollution and Emissions For The Year Preceding Emission Controlsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Assessment of strict autumn-winter emission controls on air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

Marais

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Abstract. Strict seasonal emission controls are a popular measure in China for addressing severe air pollution, in particular fine particulate matter (PM2.5). Here we evaluate the efficacy of these measures, with a particular focus on the strict emission controls imposed on pollution sources in 28 cities in and around the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region (BTH) in autumn-winter 2017/2018. For this we use the GEOS-Chem chemical transport model and air pollutant measurements from the national and Beijing local monitoring networks, after evaluating the network data with independent measurements and correcting large biases in the bottom-up emissions inventory. The network measurements are temporally consistent (r > 0.9 for PM2.5 and r > 0.7 for gases) with the independent measurements, though with systematic differences of 5–17 % for nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and 16–28 % for carbon monoxide (CO). The average decrease in monitoring network PM2.5 in BTH in autumn-winter 2017/2018 relative to the previous year is 27 %, declining from 103 to 75 µg m−3. The regional decline in PM2.5 in the model is 20 %, exceeding the regional target of 15 %. According to the model, pollution control measures led to decline in PM2.5 precursor emissions of 0.27 Tg NOx (as NO), 0.66 Tg sulfur dioxide (SO2), 70 Gg organic carbon (OC), and 50 Gg black carbon (BC). We find though that these alone only lead to an 8 % decline in PM2.5 and that interannual variability in meteorology accounts for more than half (57 %) the decline. This demonstrates that year-on-year comparisons are misleading for assessing the efficacy of air pollution measures and should be taken into consideration when extending such measures beyond BTH.

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Spatial distribution of coal-fired power plants in China

Cited by 13 publications

References 36 publications

Sources of inefficient power generation by coal-fired thermal power plants in China: A metafrontier DEA decomposition approach

Sources of inefficient power generation by coal-fired thermal power plants in China: A metafrontier DEA decomposition approach

CO2 Reduction Potential from Efficiency Improvements in China’s Coal-Fired Thermal Power Generation: A Combined Approach of Metafrontier DEA and LMDI

Assessment of strict autumn-winter emission controls on air quality in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

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