Study on the impact of decarbonization on regional coal-fired power generation -based on mechanism analysis and empirical tests

Abstract The impact of decarbonization on regional coal-fired power generation is investigated using a weighted control method with panel data for China from 2001 to 2020. Five provinces, Guangdong Province, Liaoning Province, Hubei Province, Shaanxi Province and Yunnan Province, were used as the experimental group, and the remaining provinces were used as the control group. The robustness of the experimental results was verified by multidimensional tests such as dynamic test, counterfactual test, change window period test and ranking test. The empirical test results show that the low-carbon policy has a restraining effect on the carbon emissions, coal consumption and coal-fired power generation caused by regional coal-fired power generation. At the same time, Hansen test results show that low-carbon policy has no significant impact on regional coal-fired power generation through technology effect, but it has significant impact on regional coal-fired power generation through structure effect and regulation effect.