Conference article

A consensus seems to have emerged around what constitutes “best practice” in policymaking and institution-building for the deployment of grid-connected renewable energy (GCRE). However; this consensus; found scattered throughout reports and policy papers; or in the discourse of policymakers and businesspeople; has yet to be systematized. And still; an implicit “best practice” model does seem to exist; against which national cases are frequently assessed; being portrayed as “good” or “bad” for the deployment of renewables in view of; respectively; convergences and divergences from the model. In this paper; we attempt to systematize what are frequently considered the best policies and institutions for renewable electricity. We also seek to portray the prevailing model as a sector-specific description of the policies and institutions present in liberal market economies. Subsequently; we explore the case of China; arguably not a liberal market economy; where policies and institutions coincide with “best practice” only partially and imperfectly; even following enactment of the nation’s Renewable Energy Law (REL) in 2006.

Renewable energy; Best practice; Policies; Institutions; China