**5. Conclusions**

This study investigated the dynamics of the virtual water network embodied in the interprovincial electricity transmission in China and identified its driving factors in di fferent periods by dividing the decade into the two-periods of 2005–2010 and 2010–2014. First, the transfer of virtual water and virtual scarce water generally followed a west-to-east pattern, and their magnitude increased rapidly because of the soaring electricity demand. Considering spatial distribution, virtual water exporters deeply influenced the virtual scarce water network, because of various water stress degree. The export of virtual scarce water in northwestern areas was mainly driven by electricity consumption in Jing-Jin-Ji area, and it was mainly driven by electricity consumption in southeastern areas (e.g., Yangtze River Delta and Guangdong). Besides, the newly constructed transmission lines between Xinjiang and Henan made the Xinjiang-to-Henan virtual scarce water flow increased significantly. According to the water endowments in southeastern provinces and northwestern provinces, the virtual water transmission from southeastern provinces benefits the overall water resources, but that from northwestern provinces would aggravate regional water scarcity. Increasingly developed hydropower generation in the southeastern province can mitigate water scarcity in China even it is water-intensive.

The contribution of driving factors di ffers from di fferent periods because of the implemental effects of policies. At the national level, the change of power generation mix dominated the increase of the virtual water network in the first period (2005–2010), while the change of power transmission dominated the increase in the second period. At the provincial level, power generation mix and power transmission were the main drivers of the change of virtual water transfers in the top ten provinces. Considering the development trend of the power system in the future, the investigation for co-benefits of dealing with di fferent environmental impacts should be highlighted.

**Supplementary Materials:** The following are available online at http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/13/2/328/s1.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, Y.Z. and S.H.; Methodology, S.H.; Investigation, S.H. and J.W.; Writing—Original Draft, S.H.; Writing—Review & Editing, J.W., Y.Z. and J.L.; Funding Acquisition, J.L. and H.Z.; Resources, C.Z.; Supervision, J.L. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51867003), the Basic Ability Promotion Project for Yong Teachers in Universities of Guangxi (2019KY0046; 2019KY0022), the Natural Science Foundation of Guangxi (2018JJB160056; 2018JJB160064; 2018JJA160176), the Guangxi thousand backbone teachers training program, the boshike award scheme for young innovative talents, and the Guangxi bagui young scholars special funding.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest.
