Project appraisal for small and medium size wind energy installation: the Italian wind energy policy effects

n the last few years, the distributed energy production from small wind turbines (i.e.<200 kWp) has developed into a relevant business opportunity for different investors in Italy. The market, especially in Italy, has rapidly grown, achieving 9 MWp only in 2011, with an increase from 1.5 MW in 2009 to 13.3 MW at the end of 2011. This paper reports the results of a case study on the installation of several small wind turbines. It aims to provide an analysis of the conditions in Italy that make it possible to install these machines and offer a reliable reference for designing, planning, and controlling small wind turbine projects while focusing on the strategic variables of time, cost, and quality used by typical enterprises in the investment projects. The results are relevant to investors as well as engineering, procurement, and construction companies involved in this new sector, which must understand Italy’s renewable energy policy and its effects in practice. Moreover, certain national energy policy conclusions are reported and discussed in this paper. To properly study the sector, the data on time, cost and quality are analysed using typical project management tools.