Has the Wind Power Price Policy Promoted the High-Quality Development of China’s Wind Power Industry?—Analysis Based on Total Factor Productivity

Abstract

The wind power price policy has promoted the rapid development of the wind power industry in China. However, China’s wind power industry is facing high-quality development problems such as wind curtailment and blind investment. Exploring the relationship between the change in wind power price policy and China’s high-quality development of wind power is of great significance for the energy system to achieve carbon neutrality. This paper constructs an SBM-GML global covariance model, calculates the total factor productivity of wind power in 30 provinces in China from 2015 to 2019 and conducts index decomposition, and selects provincial panel data from 2015 to 2019 to empirically test the impact of the wind power price policy on the total factor productivity of wind power in China. The results show that the wind power price policy can significantly improve the total factor productivity of wind power, and the results of the endogenous test and robustness test show the effectiveness of the model. The wind power price policy is helpful to promote the technological progress of wind power, affect the reduction of the price difference between wind power benchmark price and coal power benchmark price, and then promote the improvement of wind power total factor productivity so as to meet the policy requirements of wind power full grid parity. In addition, the impact of wind power price policy on the total factor productivity of wind power has obvious regional heterogeneity. Future price policy formulation should clarify industry development expectations, consider regional differences, and establish a sound, market-oriented electricity pricing mechanism.