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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01wh246w20n
Title: UNDERSTANDING THE ROLE OF CHINA IN THE POWER SECTOR OF OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES
Authors: Li, Zhongshu
Advisors: Mauzerall, Denise L
Contributors: Public and International Affairs Department
Keywords: China
Developing countries
Energy
Financing
Subjects: Environmental studies
Issue Date: 2021
Publisher: Princeton, NJ : Princeton University
Abstract: Facilitating renewable energy transition in developing countries’ power sectors is critical to meet our climate targets. Since the early 2000s, China has been actively engaged with the power sector development in many developing countries through multiple forms of cross-border activities. As the Belt and Road Initiative further expands China’s overseas impacts, Chinese climate policies can have significant impacts on global carbon emissions through governing Chinese domestic activities and through governing Chinese overseas activities. My dissertation focuses on improving the understanding on the scale and mechanisms of Chinese overseas activities in the global power sector.Chapter 2 provides quantitative estimation of Chinese foreign direct investment in the global power sector. I find that Chinese firms hold $115 billion USD in power assets globally in a total capacity of 81 GW. The vast majority of Chinese investment goes to coal, gas and hydropower, while the share of wind and solar is relatively small but rising. The analysis also indicates that Chinese investors have utilized more efficient coal technologies with more end-of-pipe controls than non-Chinese firms. Chapter 3 expands the quantitative analysis to all major forms of cross-border activities. I find that China was involved in 246 GW of new overseas power projects in other non-OECD countries from 2005 to 2018 with a diverse technology portfolio that includes coal, solar, and hydropower. The analysis also finds that the existing and expected future coal plants built before 2040 in other developing countries involving China would emit 9-77 Gton CO2 over their lifetime, which adds 11-40% to China’s power sector carbon emissions. Chapter 4 analyzes the determinants of Chinese overseas financing in the global power sector using econometric models. On the push side, I find that exporting domestic overcapacity to overseas market could be an important driver for Chinese development finance in the power sector. On the pull side, I find that Chinese outward investment in overseas power projects could be driven by local demand pull from recipient countries. For other factors, I find that Chinese existing activities in the local power sector could facilitate future DF and FDI in recipient countries.
URI: http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/dsp01wh246w20n
Alternate format: The Mudd Manuscript Library retains one bound copy of each dissertation. Search for these copies in the library's main catalog: catalog.princeton.edu
Type of Material: Academic dissertations (Ph.D.)
Language: en
Appears in Collections:Public and International Affairs

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