A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Engineering, School of Environment, Resources and Development

Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 1996

Systems of energy administration in most developing countries have been undergoing great changes as they move from centrally-planned to competitive market-oriented modes of operation. With this social and economic reform, conflicts are bound to occur among the many actors, i.e., central government, local governments, environment conservationists, energy production companies and consumers. To resolve these contradictions, negotiation will inevitably take place among these actors. There is a clear need for the national governments in these developing countries to negotiate and coordinate with all of the other actors, taking into account their individual interests. The prime objective of this research is to carry out academic research on simulating the negotiation process. Through this research, a methodological framework and its implementation are set up to analyze, model and facilitate the process of negotiation among central government and individual energy producers under environmental, economical and social constraints. Studies were carried out on negotiation issues in China. The results show that conflicts exist between power groups and the national government, and that the most current negotiation topics in China's power industry are demand and supply management, capital investment, energy prices and pollutant abatement. Two case studies were conducted to demonstrate the application of the methodological framework. The first one simulates a negotiation process between one power group and the national government. The other simulates a negotiation process of two power groups under the coordination of the national government.