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Recirculating aquaculture system (RAS) is a unique approach that offers total control to culture a wide variety of aquatic species. As capital investment is higher for setting up RAS, it is necessary to conduct an economic feasibility analysis based on real data. A structured questionnaire was used to collect all economic and technical data on two catfish species, viz., Pabda (Ompok pabda) and Shing (Heteropneustes fossilis), cultured in an RAS farm. The ultimate objective was to estimate net cash flow, net present value (NPV), profitability index (PI), payback period, discounted payback period, internal rate of return (IRR), and sensitivity analysis to find out the best profitability indicators. The analysis revealed that the IRR were 4% and 16% for Pabda and Shing production, respectively. However, for Pabda and Shing productions, the payback periods were 15 years and 4 months and 6 years and 2 months, respectively. The NPV value was positive for Shing production and negative for Pabda. On the other hand, the PI was lower than one for Pabda production and higher than one for Shing production. Therefore, the results showed that the Shing production in the RAS facility could be economically feasible; however, Pabda production may not be viable in RAS due to lower production and longer culture period. This study may suggest that by increasing the production capacity of the farm and market price of the product through the proper supply chain and by decreasing the initial investment, cost of fingerlings and feed, profitability can be achieved in RAS in Bangladesh.

This paper presents the integration of a solar system into road lighting systems based on a nanogrid concept, the traditional road lighting system improvement employing light-emitting diode technologies and solar energy systems. The power quality of the proposed nanogrid road lighting system is studied and analyzed in different modes, namely, stand-alone and grid-connected, using an experimental test set. Additionally, the road lighting equipment and power quality control regulation for the grid-connected system are studied in accordance with the IEC 61000-3-2 (2018) Class C standard. The economic assessment of the proposed road lighting systems is compared with a conventional solar farm system installation in terms of discounted payback period, net present value, and internal rate of return. The results indicate that the system can effectively charge the batteries with a maximum power point based on the maximum power point tracking function and supply the road lighting system through the power from the batteries. In the grid-connected operation, the electrical energy harvested from the solar system can be sent to the electrical grid with the maximum power point. The integration of a solar system into the road lighting system based on the nanogrid concept offers remarkable economic performance in investments. Furthermore, it provides a greater economic feasibility than investing in a solar farm system, as the former is free of land costs.

This study determines the voltage across insulators after a direct lightning strike to an overhead ground wire on a 24 kV pole structure for different grounding distances of overhead ground wire, to calculate the maximum ground resistance required to avoid disruption of the distribution line system using ATP-EMTP software. The results show that when a 40 kA lightning current, the average lightning current in Thailand, strikes a 24 kV pole structure, the maximum ground resistance should not exceed 4 Ω for a 40 m grounding distance of overhead ground wire, based on an existing critical insulator flashover of 205 kV. However, because the average ground resistance in Thailand is approximately 10 Ω, this study proposes increasing the insulation level from 205 kV to 300 kV to reduce the likelihood of power outage. The cost-effectiveness of such an investment is assessed in terms of net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), profitability index (PI), and discounted payback period (DPP) using existing economic tools. Results show that when the critical insulator flashover is increased from 205 kV to 300 kV for a 40 m grounding distance of overhead ground wire, the project is likely to have a DPP of 15.12 years, NPV of 143,321.87 USD, IRR of 12%, and PI of 1.15. On the other hand, grounding distances greater than 40 m for overhead ground wire result in negative NPV, although the back flashover rate can be reduced by 1.51–5.71% with grounding distances of 80–200 m compared to the situation in the absence of grounding.

A kutatás magában foglalja a tejtermelő üzemi adatokon alapuló – üzemgazdasági elemzését, mely által értékelhetővé válik az ágazat – jó színvonalon való működését feltételezve – a költség-jövedelem viszonyok, illetve a működési hatékonysága, valamint a feltételezett zöldmezős beruházások esetében a beruházás 10 éves időszakon értelemzett dinamikus mutatókon (NPV, IRR, PI, DPP) alapuló gazdaságossága. Mivel számos hazai tejtermelő üzem az elérhető legfejlettebb technológiával termel, így a mutatói érdemben nem maradnak el a legjobb nyugat-európai üzemekétől, ezért a vizsgált ágazat esetében ún. „jó termelési színvonalra, illetve gyakorlatra” vonatkozik az elemzés. Az elvégzett elemzés egy termelő üzemi primer adatokból létrehozott determinisztikus szimulációs modellezésen alapul mely saját adatbázist használ. A kutatás megállapításainak egy része adatokkal és kalkulációkkal alátámasztottak, míg más részük szakértői becsléseken és szakértői véleményeken alapulnak. Vizsgálataink alapján megállapítható, hogy az ún. jó termelési gyakorlatot követő modellüzem legfontosabb fajlagos naturális, ökonómiai és beruházáselemzési mutatói a tejtermelés esetén: Fajlagos éves tejhozam 11 000 kg/év; Termelési érték: 1 548,5 ezer Ft/tehén; Termelési költség: 1 312 ezer Ft/tehén; Nettó jövedelem: 236,5 ezer Ft/tehén; EBITDA: 404,6 ezer Ft/tehén; Diszkontált megtérülési idő beruházási támogatás nélkül: 11. év; Diszkontált megtérülési idő 50%-os támogatási intenzitás esetén: 6. év.JEL-kódok: Q12, Q13

PurposeThis paper designs an optimal closed-loop supply chain network with an integrated forward and reverse logistics to examine the possibility of remanufacturing end-of-life (EoL) ships.Design/methodology/approachExplanatory variables are used to estimate the number of EoL ships available in a closed-loop supply chain network. The estimated number of EoL ships is used as an input in the model and then it is solved by a mixed-integer linear programming (MILP) model of the closed-loop supply chain network to minimise the total logistic costs. A discounted payback period formula is developed to calculate the length of time to recoup an investment based on the investment's discounted cash flows. Existing ship wrecking industry clusters in the Western region of India are used as the case study to apply the proposed model.FindingsThe MILP model has optimised the total logistics costs of the closed-loop supply network and ascertained the optimal number and location of remanufacturing for building EoL ships. The capital and variable costs required for establishing and operating remanufacturing centres are computed. To remanufacture 30 ships a year, the discounted payback period of this project is estimated to be less than two years.Practical implicationsShip manufacturing businesses are yet to re-manufacture EoL ships, given high upfront capital expenditure and operational challenges. This study provides management insights into the costs and benefits of EoL ship remanufacturing; thus, informing the decision-makers to make strategic operational decisions.Originality/valueThe design of an optimal close loop supply chain network coupled with a Bayesian network approach and discounted payback period formula for the collection and remanufacturing of EoL ships provides a new integrated perspective to ship manufacturing.

Purpose Does it make economic sense to invest in winery startups with high land prices? This paper aims to apply a capital budgeting analysis for a startup project to investigate the role of land prices in the decision-making of a wine entrepreneur. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses a capital budgeting analysis to evaluate the value of a winery project using the six investment criteria: net present value (NPV), internal rate of return (IRR), modified IRR, profitability index, payback period (PB) and discounted PB. Findings This study finds that high land prices are economically justifiable (NPV is greater or equal to zero) when the weighted average capital cost is sufficiently low for investors who are able to diversify risks and with access to a cheap source of funds. Additionally, this study demonstrates that wine entrepreneurs need a long-term investment horizon because the recovery of the initial investment in winery startup projects takes many years. Research limitations/implications The startup winery projects are heavily influenced by wine pricing, production and cost assumptions. As a result, different assumptions made at other wine regions may result in slightly different outcomes for the acceptability of the wine startup projects. Practical implications High land prices are economically justified for investors and entrepreneurs with the ability to diversify risk and access to cheap financial resources. As such, land prices can be a critical obstacle for individual entrepreneurs who experience a lack of capital. Social implications In the famous wine regions of the world, high land prices may result in more wineries being owned by the capital rich wine conglomerates. Originality/value This paper provides estimations of land prices based on financial methods to discuss the justification of observed prices and the implications regarding the ability of investors and entrepreneurs to access capital.

Given the abundance of solar irradiation in Africa, different types of Solar Water Heating technologies can offer practical and reasonable solutions that are valuable for African people and their environment. However, these technologies' impacts were not quantified, and lack of studies could be in part attributed to the weak implementation of solar water heating systems on most countries in Africa. The aim of this paper is first, a model was developed and validated to investigate and analyze the energy performances of the two most domestic used technologies in the African continent: the flat plate collectors and the evacuated tube collectors. Next, the economic and environmental aspects of these systems are also presented. The study was carried out for 43 countries divided in 5 regions: North Africa, West Africa, Central Africa, East Africa and Southern Africa. The energy analysis, in terms of solar fraction, shows that the solar production of domestic hot water varies between 25 and 88% for the evacuated tube and between 10 and 60% for the flat plat collector and this according to the 5 regions mentioned above. Based on the Net present worth, the Benefit–Cost Ratio and the Discounted payback period, the economic analysis shows that these two technologies are beneficial for 16 of the 43 countries studied. That is due to the abundance of other energy resources in the remaining countries.

A techno-economic analysis (TEA) was conducted to evaluate the economic profitability and feasibility for a H2 energy storage system using an alkaline and a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis for 1 MW water electrolysis operation. Many economic analysis methods such as itemized cost estimation, profitability analysis using a cumulative cash flow diagram, and uncertainty analysis employing a Monte-Carlo simulation method were utilized to perform a TEA. In particular, a renewable energy certificate (REC) was considered as an additional benefit of a renewable energy use. From itemized cost estimation, respective levelized costs of H2 of 7.21 and 9.19 $ kgH2−1 were obtained for both H2 energy storage systems in an alkaline and a polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis by considering current economy situation and therefore it is still difficult to be cost-competitive compared to a commercial H2 production cost. From profitability and uncertainty analysis results, an appropriate REC weight was confirmed in terms of discounted profitability criteria like a discounted payback period, a net present value, a present value ratio, and a discounted cash flow rate of return. In addition, a REC weight was affected on a net present value compared to a REC trading cost fluctuation.

Вступ. Збереження навколишнього середовища натепер є однією з найважли- віших, невідкладних і всеосяжних проблем, від якої залежить майбутнє людства й життя на планеті в цілому. Логістика як область практичної діяльності вно- сить свій негативний внесок у стан навколишнього середовища. Останнім часом як сучасна концепція логістики застосовується екологістика, яка сприяє запобі- ганню та ліквідації наслідків негативного екодеструктивного впливу на довкілля завдяки трансформації логістичних систем. Метою статті є дослідження впли- ву змін у структурі й тривалості життєвого циклу проєкту екологістичної сис- теми, що зумовлені екологічною орієнтованістю такого типу проєктів, на оцінку ефективності проєкту за допомогою критерію ефективності – дисконтованого строку окупності. Результати. Досліджено специфічні особливості життєво- го циклу проєкту екологістичної системи. Розроблено модель життєвого циклу проєкту екологістичної системи, в якій відбито зв’язки між часовими інтерва- лами й притоками й відтоками грошових коштів, що відповідають етапам фаз життєвого циклу проєкту. Запропоновано математичну формулу для розрахунку дисконтованого строку окупності проєкту, яка враховує специфічні особливості формування потоків грошових коштів окремих фаз життєвого циклу проєкту екологістичної системи. Застосування формули можливе в разі виконання умови сталості потоків етапів експлуатаційної та регенеративної фаз, що відповідає умовам невизначеності під час прогнозування потоків грошових коштів на почат- ку проєкту. Висновки. Екологістична система має специфічні характеристики, що відрізняють її від логістичної системи. Зокрема, життєвий цикл проєкту екологістичної системи містить екологоорієнтовані фази, протягом яких здій- снюються заходи, спрямовані на збереження та відновлення екосистеми. Модель життєвого циклу проєкту екологістичної системи містить п’ять фаз: передін- вестиційну, інвестиційну, експлуатаційну, регенеративну й ревіталізаційну, що протікають упродовж шести часових інтервалів. Кожному часовому інтервалу відповідають потоки грошових коштів певних фаз. Представлено модель жит- тєвого циклу, яка враховує притоки й відтоки грошових коштів протягом часових інтервалів. Оцінка ефективності проєкту здійснюється за допомогою показ- ника дисконтованого строку окупності з урахуванням специфічних особливостей потоків грошових коштів упродовж життєвого циклу екологістичної системи.

Currently, a project for organizing the transportation of perishable freights by “Cold Express” trains is under development, which is a new transport product aimed at delivering food, agricultural raw materials and other highly profitable goods to cities where regular container trains are impractical. The article discusses the economic efficiency of the investment project for organizing the transportation of freights in regular refrigerated container trains on the example of the Vladivostok—Moscow—St. Petersburg route, taking into account the arrangement of at least 18 container sites capable of handling transit container trains. Transportation according to the “Cold Express” concept involves the delivery of freights on the Vladivostok— Moscow—St. Petersburg route to associated large cities by container train loaded with refrigerated and insulated containers, according to a developed schedule with a known arrival and departure time. Capacity of the freight transportation market on the pilot route of the “Cold Express” is 2.0 million tons with the development of transportation in both directions when reaching the design capacity. Freight traffic will be formed by 23 stops on the route, 2 port hubs, 2 border land crossings with a traffic size of 7 pairs of trains per week. As part of the project, an assessment was made of the need for the local reconstruction of passing stations and equipping them with new ones or refurbishing existing container terminals. At the same time, the commissioning of these terminals is supposed to be gradual within 7 years of the project, which also allows gradually increasing the freight base and improving the quality of transportation. The article presents the results of calculations of the commercial efficiency of the project for the Russian Railways as the owner of the infrastructure, carrier and operator of these container terminals, which show its high prospects. Even with an incomplete train load predicted due to uneven density of freight traffic, the net discounted payback period is 10 years.

Сучасний стан фінансового забезпечення сільського господарства України свідчить про необхідність активізації інвестиційних процесів і підвищення ефективності вкладення коштів. Мета статті — презентувати результати оцінювання й аналізу відносної ефективності витрат на виробництво продукції рослинництва з використанням методу аналізу середовища функціонування, що дозволило виявити особливості використання інвестицій і розрахувати строк їхньої окупності. Ідентифіковано можливість скорочення прямих витрат на оплату праці й прямих матеріальних витрат під час виробництва продукції рослинництва. Установлено, що найбільший потенціал зменшення прямих витрат на оплату праці і прямих матеріальних витрат на виробництво характерний для дев’яти культур (жито, овес, гречка, зернові сушені, соя, ріпак, соняшник,картопля, овочі закритого ґрунту), оскільки показники менші за 0,5. Водночас потенціал із вирощування пшениці, проса, овочів відкритого ґрунту та ягідних культур використаний на 100 %. Потенціал збільшення обсягу реалізації продукції ягідних культур, гречки, насіння ріпаку й кользи, цукрового буряку фабричного становить 1, тобто використаний на 100 %, однак виробництво дев’яти культур має істотний нереалізований потенціал — більше ніж 50 % (потенціал збільшення обсягу реалізації продукції за наявних витрат перебуває в межах від 0 до 0,5). Прийнявши величину скорочення прямих матеріальних витрат як мету оптимізації показників розвитку рослинництва на найближчу перспективу, установлено, що дисконтований строк окупності інвестиції становить 15 років, що вимагає посилення ролі інвестицій у сільське господарство шляхом стимулювання праці найманих працівників.

The integration of photovoltaic and battery energy storage systems into utility grids is favorable for electricity customers, especially for high consumption load patterns due to the high electricity bill. To increase the annual bill savings and decrease the dependency on the utility grid, a procedure of optimally sizing the PV battery system is presented in this paper. A MATLAB-based code of the genetic algorithm is used to maximize the system self-sufficiency and minimize the discounted payback period while guaranteeing the system profitability. The optimization technique is introduced under the time-of-use tariff structure for residential prosumers in two scenarios. The first introduces a sellback energy price equal to the off-peak energy price, and the second introduces a sellback energy price equal to the on-peak energy price. The economic and technical effects of this optimization are described and analyzed. The effect of PV system capital cost, battery capital cost, and discount rate variations is evaluated by sensitivity analysis. The results indicate that for a sellback price equal to the off-peak price, a minimum discounted payback period can be achieved by installing the maximum PV system size without batteries, and it is reduced to half of its value for a sellback price equal to the on-peak price at the same PV system capacity. For a sellback price equal to the off-peak price, the minimum DPBP of 5.8 years can be achieved by installing a 20 kWp PV system without batteries with 47% self-sufficiency and 2.4 years for a sellback price equal to the on-peak price by installing the same system capacity. The proposed approach highlights that increasing the battery size leads to high self-sufficiency without a considerable decrease in the annual bill savings that encourage customers to invest in the PV battery system.

The purpose of the article is to determine the features of assessing the effectiveness of financing the innovative activities of youth enterprises. The methodological basis of this article is the methods of scientific knowledge, in particular, the following methods were used in the study: monographic – in studying the evolutionary views of economists to assess the effectiveness of financing the innovative activities of youth enterprises; analysis and synthesis – in the study of scientific papers, laws and regulations and the practice of assessing the effectiveness of financing innovation; systematization – in the study of socio-economic phenomena and processes studied during the study; scientific abstraction – in determining the purpose, objectives and formulation of the conclusions of this article. The authors propose to use the indicators of the three grouped groups in order to better assess the economic efficiency of financing. The study identifies the most important criteria for assessing the effectiveness of financing the innovative activities of youth enterprises should, which should reflect the economic feasibility of certain alternative sources. It is proved that the efficiency of financing the innovative activity of youth enterprises is influenced by the optimal ratio of internal and external sources. Analyzing the effectiveness of raising additional funds, it was found that it is influenced by quantitative and qualitative factors. It is established that the main financial instrument of the policy of stimulating innovative development of youth enterprises is the use of state budget funds, and the main indicator that determines the level of compliance of science with the tasks of innovative economic development is the knowledge intensity of GDP. Evaluation of financing of innovative activity at internal and external investment should be carried out by a technique of an estimation of economic efficiency of investments which should be statistical or dynamic. The study found that the main and essential difference between the dynamic method and the statistical method is the discounting of cash flows. The authors determined that the most important dynamic indicators of investment in innovation are net present (present) value, internal rate of return on investment, return on investment (or return on investment index) and the discounted payback period. It is established that the assessment of the effectiveness of attracting credit resources is carried out according to three main methods. According to the study of the effectiveness of attracting credit resources, the following rule is established: the excess of profit from the project over the amount of interest paid on the loan used to finance this project is a necessary condition for the feasibility of the project.

Adoption of energy efficiency and conservation techniques in public buildings in Nigeria is significantly low due to the ignorance of its potential benefits. Consequently, this study presents the prospects of energy saving using different methods in a public building at a Nigerian University. A proposed remodelled students’ residential hostel at the University of Lagos, Nigeria was chosen as a pilot study. This research utilized three energy efficient lighting technology alternatives namely; intelligent controlled Incandescent lamp (ICIL), compact fluorescent lamp (CFL), and intelligent controlled CFL (ICCFL) and compared with a base case of conventional incandescent lighting configuration. Energy consumption, at the proposed hostel is analysed and modelled. The effectiveness of each lighting technology alternative and base case in terms of cost is estimated using economic indices such as the net present value (NPV), savings to investment ratio (SIR) and the discounted payback period (DPP). Results show that the CFL lighting technology give 39% cost benefit as compared to ICCFL which gives 11% overall cost benefit. From the study, it is established that adoption of energy efficient lighting techniques save a significant amount of energy, operational cost, electricity bills and consequently reduce emission.Keywords: Energy saving, Net present value, Savings to investment ratio, discounted payback periodJEL Classifications: C63, Q48DOI: https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.9905

The economic feasibility of substituting small-capacity coal-fired boiler houses with geothermal heat-pump units in the central ecological zone of the Baikal natural area is analyzed. Three versions of a space-heating system equipped with heat-pump units are considered depending on the source of low-grade heat and the method for extracting it: a well, a horizontal ground collector, and a water basin (Lake Baikal). The study is carried out for the raions of the Irkutsk oblast and the Republic of Buryatia located in the most favorable natural and climatic conditions in the southern part of the Baikal natural area’s central ecological zone, which have different economic conditions in terms of electricity tariffs and fuel cost. A conditional small-capacity coal-fired boiler house having averaged technical characteristics is taken as the base version for comparing it with heat-pump units. A monovalent mode of heat-pump unit operation is considered taking into account a shift for using a low-temperature space-heating system. The economic feasibility of substituting a coal-fired boiler house is estimated proceeding from the equality between the total discounted costs for implementing a space-heating system equipped with heat-pump units and costs for operation of the coal-fired boiler house for the considered period of time. The dependences of the total discounted costs for the alternatives being compared have been obtained, using which it is possible to determine the level of electricity tariffs and coal prices at which the application of heat-pump units in the studied region becomes economically feasible. The influence of possible deviations of the conditions in a particular locality from the conditions typical for the analyzed regions that were adopted for consideration is taken into account. It can be concluded from the obtained results that, given the current prices for coal and electricity, it is not economically feasible to substitute small-capacity coal-fired boiler houses with heat-pump units under the natural and climatic conditions of the considered regions. The use of heat-pump units may become justified with a coal price equal to 5000–8000 rubles/t and electricity tariffs equal to 2–4 rubles/(kW h); in this case, the discounted payback period of investments will make approximately 30 years.

In this paper, biogas potential produced from animal manure has been calculated using data for various regions of Turkey between 2007 and 2019. Moreover, generation of electricity potential that can be provided using biogas obtained from animal manure resources has been examined. The animal numbers subjected to the study have been reached via the Turkish Statistical Institute. The amount of animal manure, which is the basis for calculating the amount of biogas, has been calculated using the average number of animals and the animal weight. Eastern Anatolia and Central Anatolia Regions have the highest biogas potential with 19% compared with the other regions due to amount of manure obtained from animal. The finding of this study denotes that 76,448 × 106 m3 potential of methane content can be obtained from biogas for the mentioned years, and 2,339,296 × 106 MJ potential of heating value can be obtained from this methane value. While the potential of electricity energy, which can be provided from animal manure wastes, has been 231,009 × 106 between 2007 and 2019 in Turkey, the total electricity consumption in 2007–2019 is 2,898,040 × 106 kWh. The results show that the potential electricity that can be provided from animal manure could meet 7.99% of the electricity consumed in the same years. Furthermore, the cost analysis of biogas facility, which is established in Eastern Anatolia Region, has been performed using circular economy model. According to calculations, the discounted payback period has been found to be 10 years.

Battery energy storage systems (BESSs) can play a key role in mitigating the intermittency and uncertainty associated with adding large amounts of renewable energy to the bulk power system (BPS). Two BESS technologies that have gained prominence in this regard are Lithium-ion (LI) BESS and Vanadium redox flow (VRF) BESS. This paper proposes a fixed-flexible BESS allocation scheme that exploits the complementary characteristics of LI and VRF BESSs to attain optimal techno-economic benefits in a wind-integrated BPS. Studies carried out on relatively large transmission networks demonstrate that benefits such as reduction in system operation cost, wind spillage, voltage fluctuations, and discounted payback period, can be realized by using the proposed scheme., Comment: Major flaw found in the result sections (Sections IV and V) of the paper which needs to be rectified before the paper is re-submitted

Egy Bacs-Kiskun megyei gyumolcsfeldolgozo uzem letesitesenek penzugyi tervezeset vegeztuk el. Mar megvalosult, hasonlo jellegű uzemek latogatasat es a befektetőkkel keszitett interjukat kovetően megterveztuk a sajat beruhazasunkat. A legnagyobb uzemmerettel rendelkező vallalat 50 partnerrel rendelkezik, akik megkozelitőleg 1000 hektaron gazdalkodnak. Főkent bodza es almale sűritmenyt allitanak elő. A palyazati lehetősegeket figyelembe veve szamoltuk ki a penzugyi előkalkulacioinkat. Ket forgatokonyvet keszitettunk. Az egyiknel figyelembe vettuk a rendelkezesre allo palyazati forrasokat, a masikat pedig kizarolag sajat tőkeből finanszirozva terveztuk meg. Mindket szcenario eseten alkalmaztuk a DPB, NPV, IRR es a PI mutatokat. Termeszetesen a palyazat altal finanszirozott forgatokonyv eredmenyei a kedvezőbbek, tehat ezt erdemesebb megvalositanunk a jovőben. Abstract: In our research work we created a financial plan for a fruit processing facility located in the district of Bacs-Kiskun, Hungary. Building our business plan was based on consulting with investors and visiting several fruit processing plants. The biggest manufactory has a number of 50 partners who farm about 1.000 hectares of fruit. Mainly produces elderberry and apple concentrate. The estimate was made regarding opportunities for EU fundings. Scenario planning allowed us to generate a first set of forecasts, identify the key signposts that distinguish one scenario versus another. The first one included the current EU funding, the second one was financed completely with our own resources without leverage. Calculation included Discounted Payback Period (DPP), Net Present Value (NPV), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Profitability Index (PI). The EU funded scenario seemed to be more beneficial, it is worth implementing.

The coal and biomass coupling power generation technology is considered as a promising technology for energy conservation and emission reduction. In this paper, a novel coal and biomass indirect coupling system is proposed based on the technology of biomass gasification and co-combustion of coal and gasification gas. For the sake of comparison, a coal and biomass direct coupling system is also introduced based on the technology of co-combustion of coal and biomass. The process of the direct and the indirect coupling system is simulated. The thermodynamic and economic performances of two systems are analyzed and compared. The simulation indicates that the thermodynamic performance of the indirect coupling system is slightly worse, but the economic performance is better than that of the direct coupling system. When the blending ratio of biomass is 20%, the energy and exergy efficiencies of the indirect coupling system are 42.70% and 41.14%, the internal rate of return (IRR) and discounted payback period (DPP) of the system are 25.68% and 8.56 years. The price fluctuation of fuels and products has a great influence on the economic performance of the indirect coupling system. The environmental impact analysis indicates that the indirect coupling system can inhibit the propagation of NOx and reduce the environmental cost.

The paper present an economic model and framework for the development of natural gas pipeline for sustainable economic development in Nigeria. The study reviewed the economics of natural gas pipeline development in Nigeria. The research formulated an economic model for a case study of Calabar to Ajaokuta 417km gas pipeline project and a discounted cash flow for an economic life of 40 years. The project economics indicates a Net Present Value (NPV) of 12.5 billion USD with a discounted payback period of 7 years and 9 nine months, Profitability Index (PI) of 7.30, Internal Rate of Return of 23.05% and Growth Rate of Return 26.97% and these project economic indicator shows that the gas pipeline investment is viable. This study provides an economic model that would guarantee security of gas supply, provide access to clean energy and provides an economic framework to support long term natural gas pipeline development in Nigeria

This study presents an economic analysis of grid-connected residential rooftop PVs in Turkey under the current feed-in tariff (FiT) scheme. Three solar parts are formed on the solar map of Turkey to discuss the effect of solar radiation differences between regions on the feasibility of the systems. Nine provinces are selected for a nationwide analysis. 5 kW rooftop PVs are simulated using HOMER Grid. Discounted Payback Period (DPBP), Internal Rate of Return (IRR) and Profitability Index (PI) are used to ensure the viability of the systems from all aspects. DPBP below 8 years, IRR above 13.12%, and PI above 2 are considered feasible. The results showed that current DPBP, IRR, and PI of the systems are in the range of 7.75–14.43 years, 13.68%–6.87%, and 2.02–1.28, respectively. The systems are attractive only in one province in the southern part, and far from being investable in the northern part. A sensitivity analysis is performed to analyze the effect of varying FiT and PV initial cost on the feasibility of the systems and make policy implications. It is recommended to increase the amount of residential PV incentives in Turkey and develop a regional support mechanism, considering solar differences between regions.

As groundwater levels continue to decline in the Ogallala Aquifer, stakeholders, policymakers, and producers encourage the adoption of new irrigation technology in an effort to conserve groundwater, extend the economic life of the aquifer, and enhance profitability. One such technology currently receiving attention in the Central Ogallala region is the mobile drip irrigation (MDI) application system. This study compares MDI to low elevation spray application irrigation by evaluating the changes in variable cost per hectare to calculate the payback period for a MDI system under three levels of investment cost for grain and fiber crops representing three levels of water use while holding yield constant. Using a 3% discount rate, under the medium level of investment cost ($371 per hectare), a discounted payback period of 4.9, 9.0, and 6.3 years is required for corn, cotton, and sorghum/wheat, respectively. As the cost per hectare to convert an existing center pivot drops to $185 per hectare, the payback period also drops to 2.3, 4.2, and 3.0 years, respectively. Thus, producers growing higher water use crops are able to recover the costs of the conversion to MDI through increased water use efficiency quicker than producers growing medium and lower water use crops.

In this paper the provision of flexible generation is investigated by extracting steam from Rankine-cycle power stations during off-peak demand in order to charge thermal tanks that contain suitable phase-change materials (PCMs); at a later time when this is required and/or is economically effective, these thermal energy storage (TES) tanks can act as the heat sources of secondary thermal power plants in order to generate power, for example as evaporators of, e.g., organic Rankine cycle (ORC) plants that are suitable for power generation at reduced temperatures and smaller scales. This type of solution offers greater flexibility than TES-only technologies that store thermal energy and release it back to the base power station, since it allows both derating but also over-generation compared to the base power-station capacity. The solution is applied in a case study of a 50-MW rated oil-fired power station unit at the autonomous system of Crete. The optimal operation of the TES system is investigated, by solving a modified Unit Commitment – Economic Dispatch optimization problem, which includes the TES operating constraints. The results indicate that for most of the scenarios the discounted payback period is lower than 12 years, while in few cases the payback period is 5 years.

Motivation : One of the main concepts in project management is the concept of “team” in the project, and in project management - the human resources management of the project, which includes the processes of planning, forming and creating a team, its development and support activities, transformation or disbandment of the team. Despite the great attention paid to the formation of project management teams, existing studies do not fully highlight the specifics and features of crew operations. Criteria for the quantitative optimization of the ship's crew should be consistent with the main objectives of the project. Novelty : The research paper proposes an approach that allows optimizing the quantitative composition of the crew of a ship by more accurately assessing the level of project risks and costs associated with the maintenance of ship equipment. The practical application of this approach will optimize the quantitative composition of the ship’s crew, which will both satisfy the needs of managing the technical equipment and minimize the risks and costs of the shipowner. Methodology and Methods : Risk management tools were used to achieve the objective and test the hypotheses suggested in the research, namely: methodology for estimating the net present value of the project; the method of estimating internal rate of return for the project; the method of estimating the return on investment in the project; the method of estimation for the period of return on investment costs in the project; the method of estimating the discounted payback period for the project, as well as the tools of simulation modelling (Monte Carlo simulation method). The method of identification and grouping in the process of classification of project risks in the sphere of marine transportation, methods of systematization, grouping and logical generalization were also applied for systematization of information, drawing conclusions and making scientific suggestions in the research. Policy Considerations : Shipping plays an important role in the trade and tourism industry; human factor is the most important aspect that determines the efficiency of shipping development; maintaining of technical and technological processes of the ship puts certain requirements to the quantitative and qualitative composition of the team, deviation from which leads to the occurrence of certain risk events; formation of an effective model of ship's crew manning is the main link in ensuring effective shipping project management.

To achieve overall sustainable development, the economic viability of energy conservation and renewable energy projects are essential. The economic viability of a project can be determined through the economic appraisal of the project. Economic pinch analysis, proposed in this paper, helps in evaluating the economic merits such as the net present value (NPV), the annual-worth (AW), and the discounted payback period (DBP) of a project. Novel representations of composite cash flows, through graphical as well as tabular calculation methods, are presented here for the temporal analysis of a project. Applicability of the proposed economic pinch analysis is explained through economic appraisal of three demonstrative examples from the field of sustainable energy systems: a solar hot water system, energy conservation projects, and a rooftop solar photovoltaic system. In the case of a solar hot water system, sensitivity analysis of different parameters, combined with the proposed economic pinch analysis, helps in understanding different policy implications. Implications of different economic metrics to select appropriate mutually exclusive projects are demonstrated via an energy conservation example. The levelized cost of electricity generation is calculated for the rooftop solar photovoltaic system by matching two composite curves. Although illustrated for sustainable energy examples, the proposed approach is generic to be applicable to determine economic appraisal of any project.

The main purpose of this paper is to propose a solution to the problem of mining method selection in mining projects. To this aim, a novel fuzzy techno-financial methodology based on technical and capital budgeting criteria has been developed. The methodology embodies five capital budgeting techniques, i.e., real options analysis, net present value, modified internal rate of return, profitability index and discounted payback period. The developed methodology is based on the University of British Columbia mining method selection technique and two fuzzy multiple criteria decision-making techniques called the fuzzy technique for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution and fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. The proposed methodology also integrates a sensitivity analysis of technical and financial criteria to determine the stability of the solution. To illustrate the practical application of the proposed methodology, it was applied in the selection of an optimal mining method for Konkola East orebody in Zambia. The results showed that sub-level open stoping is the optimal mining method for Konkola East orebody as reflected by the highest closeness coefficient (CCi) value of 0.14. Sensitivity analyses revealed that this solution is most sensitive to − 50% weight change in technical criteria and + 50% weight change in financial criteria. This is because these changes alter the optimal mining method from sub-level open stoping to block caving.

[EN] Renewable power capacity sets records annually, driven by solar photovoltaic power, which accounts for more than half of all renewable power expansion in 2021. In this sense, photovoltaic system design must be correctly defined before system installation to generate the maximum quantity of energy at the lowest possible cost. The proposed study analyses the oversizing of the solar array vs. the capacity of the solar inverter, seeking low clipping losses in the inverter. A real 4.2 kWp residential PV installation was modelled and validated using the software SAM and input data from different sources, such as a weather station for weather conditions, ESIOS for electricity rates, and FusionSolar to obtain energy data from the PV installation. Once data were validated through SAM, the DC to AC ratio was varied between 0.9 and 2.1. The azimuth and slope sensitivity analyses were performed regarding clipping inverter losses. Results have been evaluated through the energy generated and the discounted payback period, showing that, depending on the weather conditions, slope, and azimuth, among others, it is advisable to increase the DC to AC ratio to values between 1.63 and 1.87, implying low discounted payback periods of about 8 to 9 years. In addition, it was observed that inverter clipping losses significantly vary depending on the defined azimuth and slope., This work was funded by "Modelado, experimentacion y desarrollo de sistemas de gestion optima para microrredes hibridas renovables" (CIGE/2021/172). (01/01/22-31/12/23). Investigacion competitiva proyectos. GENERALITAT VALENCIANA. Additionally, one of the authors (D.D.B) was supported by the Ministry of Universities of Spain under the grant FPU21/00677.

An increase in energy demand that is caused by fast economic development, a limited and constantly decreasing supply of traditional energy sources, as well as excessive environmental pollution that is caused by an increasing concentration of dust and gases in the atmosphere constitute the main factors that contribute to the ever-increasing interest in renewable sources of energy. The most important and promising renewable source of energy is thought to be solar energy. The aim of the paper is to assess the macroeconomic investment efficiency of photovoltaic installations in order to meet the demand for electric energy in single-family homes in Polish conditions. The conducted analysis comprises market characteristics and legal regulations concerning the sale of electric energy in Poland. Calculations were made for 320 variants that differed with regard to investment location, building orientation, and roof inclination. The results indicate that the most beneficial region for photovoltaic micro-installations, from a social perspective, is the south-east of and central Poland. The highest values of economic efficiency were achieved in the case of a southern roof inclination as well as a south-eastern and south-western building orientation. No big differences were observed in the economic investment efficiency for the panel inclinations. The calculated Discounted Payback Period, depending on the calculation method, equals 5.4 to 10 years. The results of the study confirm that the implemented support instruments for investments in photovoltaic installations producing energy for single-family house demand is economically viable.