The Impact of Regional Power Trade on CO2 Emissions in the Greater Mekong Sub-region

The Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) is a natural economic area bound together by the Mekong River, and the GMS member countries includes Cambodia, the People's Republic of China (PRC, Yunnan Province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region), Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR), Myanmar, Thailand, and Viet Nam. In recent years, with the economic growth of the Greater Mekong Sub-region countries, the demand for electricity has been growing rapidly, and that might lead larger CO2 emissions. Fortunately, there are abundant hydroelectric power resources in this region, and huge potential for complementarity in the supply and demand of electricity among countries. In this paper, an economic optimal dispatching model for thermal and hydroelectric generating units is introduced, and the effects of interconnections and cross-border power trade on the CO2 emissions in the Greater Mekong Sub-region are investigated. Finally, through a concrete example, it can be proved that after the implementation of interconnection and cross-border electricity trade in the Greater Mekong Sub-region, the CO2 emissions will be greatly reduced.