Abstract:

Objectives To serve the national major strategy of “carbon peaking and carbon neutrality”, the power industry needs to promote the transformation of energy structure through scientific and technological innovation. Scientific and technological innovation in the power industry is characterized by high investment, long cycle, and strong uncertainty, making it imperative to establish a fault tolerance and error correction mechanism that “encourages innovation and tolerates failure”. Methods The theoretical foundation for fault tolerance and liability exemption is established by integrating multidisciplinary theories and drawing on international experience. In terms of institutional design, the four-element model for liability determination—consisting of “object, objective aspect, subject, and subjective aspect”—is adapted to characteristics of the power industry, and three-type classification is proposed: legitimate motivation type, minor liability type, and procedural rectification type. On this basis, a complete institutional system is constructed, covering a two-step identification method, a list of specific circumstances, and full-process procedures. Results The fault tolerance and liability exemption mechanism can alleviate researchers’ concerns about innovation, stimulate the vitality of participating entities, and play a positive role in promoting scientific and technological innovation in the power industry. Conclusions The research findings effectively balance the safety of state-owned assets and the tolerance for innovation risks, provide an operable fault tolerance and liability exemption scheme for scientific and technological innovation in the power industry, and offer a solid institutional guarantee for accelerating the construction of a clean, low-carbon, safe, and efficient new energy system.

Key words: power industry, scientific and technological innovation, fault tolerance and error correction, liability exemption and reduction, carbon emission