A barrier analysis for the development of distributed energy in China: A case study in Fujian province

• Published in: Energy policy 2013-09, Vol.60, p.262-271
• Main Authors: Liu, Jian, Wang, Run, Sun, Yanwei, Lin, Yanjie, Xiao, Lishan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Applied sciences; case studies; China; China (People's Republic); Combined power plants; Conflict; Corporations; Data collection; Decision-making; Development policy; Distributed energy; Economic data; Electric energy; Electricity generation; Energy; Energy economics; Energy industry; Energy policy; Energy resources; Energy. Thermal use of fuels; Exact sciences and technology; Experimental methods; Fossil fuels and derived products; Gas; General, economic and professional studies; Information analysis; Installations for energy generation and conversion: thermal and electrical energy; interviews; Markets; Problem solving; Project evaluation; Regulation; rooting; Stakeholder analysis; stakeholders; Studies
• ISSN: 0301-4215; 1873-6777
• DOI: 10.1016/j.enpol.2013.05.024

Distributed energy (DE) is receiving lots of attention from the Chinese government. A number of DE projects have been constructed in China. However, there are still numerous problems with DE projects. What hinders the development of DE in China? The Huadian Jimei distributed energy project (HJDE) is a typical DE building project that was not completed successfully. This paper focuses on this DE project to explore the barriers to DE development. The research group conducted 13 semi-structured interviews with representatives of institutions and corporations involved in the HJDE project to collect information. Based on the information, three types of problems were determined, and the results indicate that these conflicts between the core stakeholders make DE projects unsuccessful. These problems result from institutional barriers to DE, rooting in the development policy and the current energy market. Moreover, several key stakeholders are not able to play an active role in the design or management of DE projects. The Chinese government will put a much greater effort into the development of future DE projects. Many national support policies and rules will be announced, which are easy to practical use. Under these conditions, 1000 DE projects will be successfully completed until 2015. •Using stakeholder analysis, this paper focuses on one typical building DE project.•Conflicts between core stakeholders make the DE project cannot be completed.•The barriers are related to the role of electricity consumers in DE projects.•The barriers are also related to current Chinese natural gas and LNG market.•Drivers such as regulation, incentives and so on should be built and modified.