Photovoltaic Farms: Economic Efficiency of Investments in South-East Poland
The main objective of this study was to identify the status and development opportunities and evaluate the economic viability of investments in large-scale photovoltaic installations in Southeastern Poland. The primary data sources used in the study were empirical materials from all photovoltaic ins...
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| author | Joanna Żurakowska-Sawa Arkadiusz Gromada Anna Trocewicz Adrianna Wojciechowska Marcin Wysokiński Anetta Zielińska |
| author_facet | Joanna Żurakowska-Sawa Arkadiusz Gromada Anna Trocewicz Adrianna Wojciechowska Marcin Wysokiński Anetta Zielińska |
| author_sort | Joanna Żurakowska-Sawa |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The main objective of this study was to identify the status and development opportunities and evaluate the economic viability of investments in large-scale photovoltaic installations in Southeastern Poland. The primary data sources used in the study were empirical materials from all photovoltaic installations implemented with support from the Regional Operational Program of the Lublin Voivodeship (ROP WL) for 2007–2013 (31 projects). The following indices were used to evaluate the economic efficiency of the investments studied: rate of return on investment (ROI), simple payback period (SPP), net present value of investment (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), discounted payback period (DPBT), and averaged unit cost of electricity generation (LCOE). They were carried out for three scenarios–baseline, conservative, and optimistic–in two variants, for actual capital expenditures considering financial support used and without subsidies. It was determined that the expected lifetime of the studied investments would be 25 years. The sensitivity analysis shows that, regardless of the adopted scenario, investments in solar thermal power with the level of support that took place under the 2007–2013 financial perspective were reasonable long-term investments. In the least favorable scenario (conservative) included in the analysis, the discounted payback period ranged from 8.1 to 22 years. In the optimistic scenario, DPBT values ranged from 5.6 years to more than 15 years. The payback period (both simple and discounted) for investments with the subsidy was, on average, almost twice as fast as for investments without the subsidy, while the average unit cost of electricity generation with the subsidy was about 30% lower than without it. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-36b6327576354c44916f031438e06422 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1996-1073 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Energies |
| spelling | doaj-art-36b6327576354c44916f031438e064222025-01-10T13:17:18ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732025-01-0118117010.3390/en18010170Photovoltaic Farms: Economic Efficiency of Investments in South-East PolandJoanna Żurakowska-Sawa0Arkadiusz Gromada1Anna Trocewicz2Adrianna Wojciechowska3Marcin Wysokiński4Anetta Zielińska5Faculty of Economic Sciences, John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska, 21-500 Biała Podlaska, PolandInstitute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-787 Warsaw, PolandFaculty of Economic Sciences, John Paul II University in Biała Podlaska, 21-500 Biała Podlaska, PolandInstitute of Rural and Agricultural Development, Polish Academy of Sciences, Nowy Świat 72, 00-330 Warsaw, PolandInstitute of Economics and Finance, Warsaw University of Life Sciences, 02-787 Warsaw, PolandAcademy in Piotrków Trybunalski, 97-300 Piotrków Trybunalski, PolandThe main objective of this study was to identify the status and development opportunities and evaluate the economic viability of investments in large-scale photovoltaic installations in Southeastern Poland. The primary data sources used in the study were empirical materials from all photovoltaic installations implemented with support from the Regional Operational Program of the Lublin Voivodeship (ROP WL) for 2007–2013 (31 projects). The following indices were used to evaluate the economic efficiency of the investments studied: rate of return on investment (ROI), simple payback period (SPP), net present value of investment (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), discounted payback period (DPBT), and averaged unit cost of electricity generation (LCOE). They were carried out for three scenarios–baseline, conservative, and optimistic–in two variants, for actual capital expenditures considering financial support used and without subsidies. It was determined that the expected lifetime of the studied investments would be 25 years. The sensitivity analysis shows that, regardless of the adopted scenario, investments in solar thermal power with the level of support that took place under the 2007–2013 financial perspective were reasonable long-term investments. In the least favorable scenario (conservative) included in the analysis, the discounted payback period ranged from 8.1 to 22 years. In the optimistic scenario, DPBT values ranged from 5.6 years to more than 15 years. The payback period (both simple and discounted) for investments with the subsidy was, on average, almost twice as fast as for investments without the subsidy, while the average unit cost of electricity generation with the subsidy was about 30% lower than without it.https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/170photovoltaic installationseconomic viabilityeconomic efficiencyROISPPNPV |
| spellingShingle | Joanna Żurakowska-Sawa Arkadiusz Gromada Anna Trocewicz Adrianna Wojciechowska Marcin Wysokiński Anetta Zielińska Photovoltaic Farms: Economic Efficiency of Investments in South-East Poland Energies photovoltaic installations economic viability economic efficiency ROI SPP NPV |
| title | Photovoltaic Farms: Economic Efficiency of Investments in South-East Poland |
| title_full | Photovoltaic Farms: Economic Efficiency of Investments in South-East Poland |
| title_fullStr | Photovoltaic Farms: Economic Efficiency of Investments in South-East Poland |
| title_full_unstemmed | Photovoltaic Farms: Economic Efficiency of Investments in South-East Poland |
| title_short | Photovoltaic Farms: Economic Efficiency of Investments in South-East Poland |
| title_sort | photovoltaic farms economic efficiency of investments in south east poland |
| topic | photovoltaic installations economic viability economic efficiency ROI SPP NPV |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/18/1/170 |
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