A Critical Analysis of Energy Investment Decision Criteria Under Uncertainty: a Survey

EasyChair Preprint 10738

Abstract

Renewables investment is crucial in tackling a multitude of chal-lenges and serving as a response to various issues such as economic uncertainties, escalating prices from the ongoing global energy cri-sis, energy security, and climate change threat. Renewable technol-ogies, at different scales, have different economic profitability, ne-cessitate capital investments, drive jobs creation, require materials and generate environmental implications. This paper provides a comprehensive approach to investment analysis methods when the focus is on implementation of a sustainable energy system. It dis-cusses the central issue of the eventual coexistence between purely private objectives focused on profitability and the public perspec-tive in which environmental and economic impacts must be consid-ered in the decision-making process. This review evaluates both the advantages and disadvantages of the various investment analysis methods found in academic articles and documents from official in-stitutions between 1994-2022.Traditionally, studies have primarily concentrated on investment rationality, employing methodologies rooted solely in financial optimization criteria. Nonetheless, a para-digm shift is evident. Beyond mere financial gains, an increasing emphasis is placed on an integrated approach that acknowledges socio-economic and environmental effects. Despite the challenge of its quantification, the focus on the public viewpoint and its influ-ence on societal well-being is progressively gaining relevance.

Keyphrases: Investment, Renewables, Technologies, decision making

@booklet{EasyChair:10738,
  author    = {Palloma Silva and Patricia Fortes and Maria Isabel Soares and Roberta Amaral},
  title     = {A Critical Analysis of Energy Investment Decision Criteria Under Uncertainty: a Survey},
  howpublished = {EasyChair Preprint 10738},
  year      = {EasyChair, 2023}}