Introduction   This paper is Part 1 of two papers, looking at applying European countries′ experience with economic regulation to one of the urgent challenges of China′s electricity systems: namely the effective connection of offshore wind.

    Method   Using a methodology adapted from recent literature on comparative analysis of regulatory regimes, five components of regulatory regimes for offshore wind are defined: regulatory entity, degree of effective unbundling, connection charging method, tariff regulatory method and entity responsible for constructing/operation of the offshore connection. Regulatory regimes, including three case studies of innovative regulatory regimes, are assessed in terms of four criteria: “Price Signal” , “Cost Efficiency Incentives” , “Planning” and “Timely Connection Investment” .

    Result   The paper shows that the TSO model, the generator model and the third-party model present three different, but equally successful, paths to address the challenges of offshore wind connection.

    Conclusion   China′s policy-makers could learn from these experiences, both in understanding the properties of basic regulatory methods, as well as the regulatory innovations. This is further discussed in Part 2 of the paper.