Renewable power generation policies in China: Policy instrument choices and influencing factors from the central and local government perspectives

Renewable power generation, which is the main driver of power decarbonization, is strongly supported by government policies. However, there are deficiencies in policy design, e.g., a lack of time consistency, incoordination among policies, and local protectionism. Policy-makers need to understand the evolution of renewable power generation policy instrument choices and the inherent influencing factors. This study uses textual content analysis to analyse the historical evolutionary trends, policy categories, dominant government departments, and the distribution along industrial segments of renewable power policy instruments from the perspectives of both the central and local governments. The factors influencing the policy instrument choice of local governments, especially the influence of CO2 emissions and thermal power generation on the choice of policy instruments for renewable power generation, are further analysed. The results show that China has formed a multi-sectoral and collaborative renewable power generation policy framework from the central government to local governments. Direct provision instruments and fiscal expenditure instruments are extensively employed, leading to over-dependence on such policy instruments. Empirical analysis shows that there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between the frequency of use of renewable power generation policy instruments and CO2 emissions, as well as a positive relationship with thermal power generation. More specifically, in provinces with high CO2 emissions, local governments are more likely to choose direct provision and fiscal expenditure. Provinces with a high installed thermal power capacity have a more frequent use of both regulatory and fiscal expenditure policy instruments by local governments. •We analyse the renewable power generation policy instruments from central government and local government perspectives.•The dominant departments and the distribution on the industrial chain of renewable power generation policies are identified.•We analyse the influence of CO2 emission and thermal power on the choice of renewable power generation policy instruments.