Improve technical efficiency of China's coal-fired power enterprises: Taking a coal-fired-withdrawl context

In the process of energy transition, reference standards are needed to guide the orderly withdrawal of coal-fired power enterprises. This study applies stochastic frontier analysis to measure the technical efficiency, as the reference standard, based on data from all coal-fired power enterprises of a large Chinese power generation group from 2010 to 2015. Meanwhile, in order to make more specific policy recommendations, this paper provides a detailed analysis of the technical efficiency in three aspects: return to scale, operation hours, and regional characteristics. The empirical results show that the average technical efficiency of coal-fired power enterprises is 0.818, which still leaves room for improvement of about 20%; the industry shows slightly decreasing return to scale, which primarily results from enterprises with larger capacity but less operation hours; correlation between efficiency and operation hours varies widely among regions, with South and Northwest China in the greatest need of improving the generation assignment approach; finally, unit coal reduction and equity increase are important ways to improve technical efficiency, and older power enterprises and larger units have greater potential for high-quality power supply. The findings will serve as a reference for policy makers to promote a more effective planning of coal-fired power industry in China.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Automated summary

This study measures the technical efficiency of coal-fired power enterprises in a large Chinese power generation group from 2010 to 2015 using stochastic frontier analysis. The study provides a detailed analysis of technical efficiency in terms of return to scale, operation hours, and regional characteristics. The findings suggest that there is room for improvement in the technical efficiency of coal-fired power enterprises, and the impact of return to scale, operation hours, and regional characteristics varies. Reducing coal consumption and increasing equity are important ways to improve technical efficiency.