Comparative Techno-Economic Feasibility Assessment of Onshore Wind Energy Deployment: A Multi-Site Analysis

Abstract

Given Albania’s high dependence on hydropower and its sensitivity to hydrological fluctuations, identifying alternative renewable energy sources has become increasingly important. This study presents a comparative techno-economic feasibility assessment of onshore wind farm development in ten selected areas in Albania. Since studies simultaneously evaluating the technical and economic feasibility of multiple potential wind energy sites remain limited in Albania, this work provides a broader assessment of wind energy development feasibility. Wind resource assessment was performed using long-term wind atlas-based data where available complemented by on site measurements. WAsP software was used to assess the wind energy resources and to simulate the wind farm energy output. Weibull methodology was used for probabilistic assessment of wind speeds. Five wind turbine models were simulated. The Vestas V163 4.5 MW turbine at 126 m hub demonstrated the best technological and economic overall performance and was selected as the reference wind turbine for the economic assessment. The economic assessment was performed using RETScreen Expert software while sensitivity analyses were performed with respect to variations in installation cost, electricity price and discount rate. Wide range of values of the technical wind farm indicators and economic indicators was reported across the studied sites. Vau i Dejës, Mali i Rencit and Pukë can be considered to have the most favourable technical and economic indicators due to their high wind farm capacity factor and low LCoE value, combined with high NPV and IRR values. The LCoE varied from approximately 49 to 63 €/MWh. Notably, Mali i Rencit emerged as one of the best-performing sites despite not belonging to the highest wind power classes, indicating that feasibility also depends on other site-specific factors beyond wind potential. Furthermore, the comparison between WAsP and RETScreen highlighted the importance of a detailed and representative wind resource assessment for improving the reliability of wind farm evaluations. Overall, the findings provide a useful basis for identifying priority areas and supporting future investment decisions in Albania’s wind energy sector.