China’s electricity switch won’t be swift or painless

The evolution of electricity markets in China will not be swift, painless or linear, thanks to political and economic obstacles as well as entrenched stakeholder interests. But if designed and governed well, markets hold promise for resolving the political challenges that will otherwise frustrate China’s transition to a clean-energy system. They can accelerate the replacement of relatively cheap coal-fired energy with renewable energy as the increasing scale of solar and wind installations drives their costs to parity.