Monte Carlo Method Used to Evaluate Offshore Wind Feed-In Tariff in Greece

A paper on the evaluation of the feed-in tariff scheme for offshore wind farms in Greece using a Monte Carlo approach has been published in Journal of Wind Engineering and Industrial Aerodynamics. 

The paper investigates the profitability range of offshore wind energy investments in Greece, taking into consideration the uncertainties faced, which include technical, political, economic and regulatory risks.

A systematic profitability analysis has been performed for 12 offshore sites in Greek coastal waters, using a Monte Carlo simulation integrated into a classical financial model for the treatment of various sources of uncertainty and in relation to the eventual variation of feed-in tariffs, as foreseen in the current legislative framework, the authors say in the paper abstract.

The proposed methodological approach has proved to be a very useful tool for policy makers, enabling the simultaneous consideration of a significant number of uncertainty drivers. Moreover, the obtained results demonstrate the difficulties to propose a common feed-in tariff level for all offshore wind farms, even in a small country like Greece.

The authors include researchers from: Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology (NUIST), Nanjing, Jiangsu, China; National Technical University of Athens (NTUA), Athens, Greece; National Observatory of Athens, Institute for Environmental Research, Athens, Greece; Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (IAP-CAS), Beijing, China; and Technological Educational Institute of West Macedonia, Kozani, Greece.