Criteria prioritizing for AWE siting

Country selection and local siting of airborne wind turbines

Dear participant,

Thank you for taking some minutes to participate in this expert survey regarding country and site selection for the deployment of airborne wind energy (AWE) systems. The AWE industry is in its infancy, but commercial products will soon become available to this new and unexplored market. It is the goal of my TU Delft graduation research to explore the market, and determine the most appropriate nations (and regions within these nations) for AWE deployment.

Various technical, economical, environmental and political criteria influence the site selection of AWE systems, and some criteria might be more important than another. For a realistic analysis the relative importance of these criteria are of upmost importance. For this specific industry, the opinion of experts are most valuable and therefore about 20 experts from various backgrounds (government, industry, university and NGOs) are invited to participate in our expert survey to determine the relative importance of various criteria in country and site selection for the deployment of airborne wind energy systems.

In case you're unfamiliar with the airborne wind energy concept, please answer the questions from your wind energy expertise. It will take approximately 15 minutes to complete the questionnaire. Your participation in this study is completely voluntary and you can withdraw from the survey at any point. It is very important for us to learn from your opinions.

The next page contains questions about your background. Next you'll get an example question introducing the type of questions and answers. The remaining of the survey contains 70 questions related to the importance of various criteria relevant for country and site selection for the deployment of airborne wind energy systems.

If you have questions at any time about the survey or the procedures, you may contact Ir. Jelle Wijnja at +31(0)614600251 or by email at [email protected].

Thank you very much for your time and support. Please start with the survey now by clicking on the Continue button below.

* What is your background? (multiple answers possible)

How many years of experience in Wind Energy?

How many years of experience in Airborne Wind Energy?

Other relevant experience:

What is your current function?

Name (not required)

Email address (not required)

Example

In this survey the pair-wise comparison method is applied. The importance of each criteria is determined with respect to the other criteria.

The following scale is applied:

____________________________________
8 extremely more important
7 ..
6 very strongly more important
5 ..
4 strongly more important
3 ..
2 moderately more important
1 ..
0 equally important
-1 ..
-2 moderately less important
-3 ..
-4 strongly less important
-5 ..
-6 very strongly less important
-7 ..
-8 extremely less important

Let's try this with an example. Let's say that for choosing a car, four criteria are of importance; price, color, fuel consumption and the size. In this example we determine the importance of all criteria with respect to the size of the car. The questions and answers in this survey are of the kind:

Give the relative importance of the following criteria with respect to the size of the car.

You should fill in one of the radio buttons according to the scale explained earlier. In this example, the radio button (6) is filled. This means that you believe, that for choosing a car, the price is a strongly more important criterion than the size.

In the next example, radio button (0) is filled. This means that you believe, that for choosing a car, the color and the size are equally important criteria.

In this example the (-7) radio button is filled. This means that you believe, that for choosing a car, the fuel consumption is in between a very strongly less important and extremely less important criterion with respect to the size of the car.

Some last words before starting the pair-wise comparison part of the survey:

1) any comments/suggestions are welcome and can be given at the bottom of each page
2) an explanation of the scale is given at the bottom of each page

Compare the wind climate criterion according to its relative importance with respect to the visual quality of the landscape at which the wind farm is planned

Within the 'Wind climate' criterion, compare the national wind energy potential sub-criterion according to its relative importance with respect to the local wind power density

Comments/Suggestions:

Scale:
____________________________________
8 extremely more important
7 ..
6 very strongly more important
5 ..
4 strongly more important
3 ..
2 moderately more important
1 ..
0 equally important
-1 ..
-2 moderately less important
-3 ..
-4 strongly less important
-5 ..
-6 very strongly less important
-7 ..
-8 extremely less important

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the ease of doing business.

The ease of doing business is measured by (1) the number of procedures and time required for construction permits, (2) the level of investor protection and (3) the degree to which standardized aviation regulations are applied.

Within the 'ease of doing business' criterion, compare the sub-criterion number of procedures and time required for construction permits according to its relative importance with respect to the level of investor protection.

And, compare the subcriteria according to their relative importance with respect to level of standardized aviation regulations.

Comments/Suggestions:

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the governmental financial support schemes for renewable energy (RE). Abbreviated to 'RE support schemes'.

Within the 'governmental financial support schemes for renewable energy' criterion, compare the sub-criterion specific wind energy financial support programs according to its relative importance with respect to, the general renewable energy support programs.

Comments/Suggestions:

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the political risk.

Comments/Suggestions:

____________________________________
8 extremely more important
7 ..
6 very strongly more important
5 ..
4 strongly more important
3 ..
2 moderately more important
1 ..
0 equally important
-1 ..
-2 moderately less important
-3 ..
-4 strongly less important
-5 ..
-6 very strongly less important
-7 ..
-8 extremely less important

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the social acceptance of (airborne) wind energy.

The criterion 'social acceptance' is defined as the combination of public and market acceptance.

Within the 'social acceptance' criterion, compare the public acceptance according to its relative importance with respect to the market acceptance.

Comments/Suggestions:

Scale:

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the level of intellectual property (IP) right protection.

Comments/Suggestions:

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the availability of a suitable grid system.

Comments/Suggestions:

Within the 'The availability of a suitable grid system' criterion, compare the grid downtime according to its relative importance with respect to the electrification rate, the rate of buildings connected to the grid.

And, compare the subcriteria according to their relative importance with respect to the distance between the wind farm and the grid.

Comments/Suggestions:

Scale:

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the current and future electricity portfolio.

Within the 'The current and future electricity portfolio' criterion, compare the subcriterion electricity demand growth prospect according to its relative importance with respect to the net import/export of electricity.

And, compare the subcriteria according to their relative importance with respect to the intended electricity portfolio.

And, compare the subcriteria according to their relative importance with respect to the current electricity portfolio.

Comments/Suggestions:

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the cost of electricity.

Within the 'The costs of energy/electricity in this country and/or region' criterion, compare the subcriteria the cost of local renewable electricity according to its relative importance with respect to the electricity cost from the grid.

Comments/Suggestions:

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the corporate tax rate.

Comments/Suggestions:

Compare the following criteria according to their relative importance with respect to the airborne wind turbine's levelized cost of electricity (LCOE).

Within the 'The airborne wind turbine's levelized cost of electricity specific for this country/region' criterion, compare the sub-criterion grid connection cost according to its relative importance with respect to the
operation and maintenance (O&M) costs.

And, compare the subcriteria according to their relative importance with respect to the costs of land.

And, compare the subcriteria according to their relative importance with respect to the wind turbine investment costs.

Comments/Suggestions:

If I've missed criteria important for the country and site selection of (airborne) wind farms, please indicate which below.

Any other comments/suggestions: