Spatial and Temporal Development Pattern and Environmentally-friendly Development Path of Electricity Industry in the Yellow River Basin postprint

Abstract: The electricity industry has a solid foundation and a long history in the Yellow River Basin owing to the large reserves of energy minerals, wind power, solar power, and hydropower. Giving full play to the positive socioeconomic benefits of power industry and controlling the negative environmental impact are of great significance to the ecological protection and high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin, which are also crucial to the safety of energy supply. Through the analysis of the micro data of 6000 kWand-above power plants, this study depicts the spatial and temporal development pattern of electricity industry in the Yellow River Basin from 2003 to 2017 in the perspectives of power plants construction, power production, and so on. The formation of the current pattern is mainly affected by both resource endowment and electricity demand. The existing problems of the electricity industry in this area are as following: little growing space for hydroelectricity, installed capacity surplus, and low efficiency of thermal-power and the insufficient consumption of wind and solar power. In order to realize the environmentally-friendly development of electricity industry, we should promote the clean and efficient utilization of thermal power, the integrated development of resource-based industries through electric power reform and institutional innovation, solve the problem of wind power consumption through the transformation of coalfired plants’ flexibility and the complementary production of hydro and solar electricity, coordinate the contradictions during the development of wind and solar power, and promote the electricity technical advancement and the innovation of system mechanism to drive regional development.