Wind power development, government regulation structure, and vested interest groups: Analysis based on panel data of Province of China

Abstract

Under pressure to reduce emissions and protect the environment, China has been vigorously promoting the development of renewable energy. In recent years, wind power generation in China has developed very quickly, but its overall use ratio is very low and there are still many obstacles impeding further development of wind power. Firstly, this paper systematically analyzes the relationship between different influencing factors of wind power growth, including the level of government regulation and the impact of vested interest groups, based on the private interest theory of government regulation. Secondly, we use panel data from 31 Chinese provinces to examine the theoretical assumptions. The results show that the delegation of approval authority led to the growth of regional wind power installed capacity. The influence on local government by the local thermal power industry exerted a negative impact on the development of local wind power when the local government held the approval authority. However, this influence relation disappeared when the central government held the approval power. Thus, the government needs to make a trade-off between different levels of approval authority. The paper concludes with several suggestions to promote China's wind power development.