[Structural Characteristics and Influencing Factors of China's Inter-provincial Electric Power Carbon Emission...

Exploring the inter-provincial spatial association network of carbon emissions in China's power sector and its driving factors helps to identify regional carbon emission roles and promote differentiated and coordinated policies for power-related carbon reduction. This study constructs China's inter-provincial power carbon emission networks from 2007 to 2022 using network analysis and further applies social network analysis and the quadratic assignment procedure to examine network structural features and influencing factors. The results show that： ① Network nodes exhibited a "concentrated production-dispersed consumption" pattern， with simultaneous trends of scale expansion， structural solidification， and intensified node differentiation， reflecting typical path dependence and the "Matthew effect." ② The spatial structure revealed a strengthening core-periphery configuration， an axial layout of "two horizontal and three vertical" transmission corridors， and a shift from "multi-point connections" to "trunk transmission." ③ Four major blocks could be identified： Block Ⅰ， dominated by consumption-oriented provinces， acted as a carbon sink； Block Ⅱ， centered on Shaanxi， Xinjiang， and Inner Mongolia， consistently functioned as a major carbon source； Block Ⅲ， including Jiangsu， Shanghai， and Zhejiang， was mainly a net receiver； and Block Ⅳ， comprising central and southwestern provinces， formed a relatively independent subsystem. Overall， ultra-high-voltage （UHV） projects weakened intra-block clustering while strengthening inter-block connections， with the northern coal-based power cluster gradually emerging as the national core of carbon outflow. ④ Regarding driving factors， UHV projects significantly enhanced spatial associations of inter-provincial power carbon emissions； regional proximity remained fundamental， but its importance declined with the rise of long-distance transmission； the impact of industrial scale differences fluctuated over time， while the positive effect of per capita electricity consumption continued to strengthen； clean energy substitution has shown an increasing mitigation effect on coal power； and environmental regulation exerted limited influence on cross-regional power carbon emissions. After the launch of the national carbon trading market， the influence mechanism was mainly characterized by the strengthened substitution effect of clean energy and the reappearance of industrial scale disparities， while other factors remained relatively stable.