Can Renewable Energy Investments Alleviate Energy Poverty in China? Evidence From the Affordable and Clean Energy Framework

ABSTRACT Although Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) give significance to alleviating energy poverty (EP), the former literature is considerably silent on how renewable energy investments (REI), which are vital in providing clean and reliable energy and ensuring a sustainable development path, impact EP in China, one of the most prominent countries in renewable energy. Therefore, the primary objective of this study is to uncover time‐, frequency‐ and quantile‐based interactions between REI and EP in China from 2004 M1 to 2020 M6 using various EP indicators by utilising Wavelet Transform Coherence (WTC) and Quantile‐on‐Quantile Regression (QQR) as a baseline estimator, while Quantile Regression (QR) is utilised as robustness checks. The empirical results denote that (i) there is a time‐ and frequency‐dependent interaction between REI and EP. (ii) REI can alleviate EP by fostering access to primary energy, electricity and clean energy technologies. (iii) The EP‐alleviating impact of REI through increasing access to electricity is more dominant. (iv) Robustness checks denote that empirical findings are robust. Chinese policymakers could prevalently use REI as an effective tool for alleviating EP and achieving SDG‐7.