Introduction

China started market-oriented restructuring of its power industry in the year 2002. Over the past years, its power industry has experienced an extraordinary period of development. As the national economy maintained its pace of fast growth, a nationwide shortage of energy supply ensued. On the one hand, many provinces had to punctually cut off their power supply due to limited generating capacities, while on the other hand, electricity prices kept increasing due to rises in the prices of primary energy. As a result, shortages of power supply became a top concern for the Chinese ...