Summary The growing energy demand in the world and the concern for environmentally damaging energy sources have led to an increased interest in seeking alternative renewable energy sources, such as wind energy. Furthermore, choosing effective locations for wind power plants has become a key issue in project planning. However, prior to implementation, such projects should be confirmed as economically viable. This article is a systematic review of the literature carried out with the aim to identify the main factors that impact the economic feasibility of wind energy investments. The search was performed in the ISI Web of Science (WoS) electronic database, from which 120 papers were extracted after a selection process, and were analyzed individually. As a result of the review analysis, 23 factors that have an impact on feasibility analysis were identified and organized in five categories: location (surface roughness, turbine location), economic (investment costs, operation and maintenance costs, avoided energy cost, depreciation, land rent), political (interest rates and taxes, energy sales price, inflation, financing conditions), climatic (wind speed, air density, temperature, air pressure), and technical (turbine height, installed wind power, lifetime, efficiency, rotor diameter, operation time, number of turbine blades, construction time). These factors can directly impact the cost of capital and/or energy production, affecting the economic viability of wind farms. In the last decade, there has been an exponential growth in publications about economic feasibility of wind investments. The wind investments growth has been accompanied by financial studies about this subject. This study provides insights on the main variables used in wind energy feasibility studies. The results may assist researchers and investors to identify the key parameters that are being examined in the literature, and to evaluate which ones should be considered in their study to ensure a sustainable development of power generation through the wind source.
The introduction of environmental impact targets around the world has highlighted the need to adopt alternative sources of energy, which can supply the demand and mitigate the damage caused to the environment. Solar energy is one of the main sources of alternative energy, and is considered an abundant source of clean energy. However, to facilitate and encourage investors interested in the installation of photovoltaic energy systems for electricity production, it is essential to evaluate the factors that impact the economic viability of the projects. Therefore, the objective of this research is to present a systematic analytical framework, in order to identify and analyze the main factors that impact the financial feasibility of projects for the installation of photovoltaic energy plants. For this purpose, a systematic literature review was carried out, analyzing the main studies related to the topic and identifying the main factors that may financially affect investments in photovoltaic energy systems. From this review, 29 influencing factors were identified and separated into five categories, namely, location, economic, political, climatic and environmental, and technical factors. The main factors highlighted are the investment cost, power generation, operation and maintenance costs, solar radiation, lifetime, energy tariff, efficiency, electricity consumption, and interest and taxes. The results may assist policy makers, investors, researchers, and other stakeholders to identify the key factors that are being examined in the literature, and to evaluate which ones should be considered in their study to ensure the sustainable development of power generation through the solar source.
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