A parametric evaluation of the landscape external costs of wind and solar power plants in Italy

This article develops and applies a methodology for the parametric evaluation of the landscape external costs associated with renewable energy installations, using two case studies. The primary innovation of the methodology lies in the estimation of the economic value of landscape-related ecosystem services in Italy as a function of key landscape attributes, enabling its application across diverse national landscape contexts. The monetary valuation of landscape services was conducted through a discrete choice experiment (DCE) based on a survey administered to a representative sample of the Italian population (N = 2,352). The DCE results enabled the estimation of 50 unit values (in euros per hectare) reflecting the population’s willingness to pay for landscape ecosystem services. These values were differentiated according to qualitative classes of three landscape attributes: naturalistic quality, cultural heritage richness, and the presence of historic rural areas. A distinctive feature of the application of discrete choice experiment in this study is its integration with the available national landscape classification and cartography. This allows for the application of landscape monetary values to specific areas affected by visual intrusion from renewable energy installations, using spatial analysis tools. The methodology was then tested with its application to two case studies in Central Italy: an onshore wind farm and a utility-scale photovoltaic plant. Given the differing landscape contexts of the two case studies, the estimated external landscape cost of the photovoltaic plant was lower than that of the wind farm, both in absolute terms (106,000 euro/year vs. 232,000 euro/year) and relative to annual energy production (1.11 euro/MWh vs. 1.34 euro /MWh). In the context of energy planning and policy, the proposed methodology can be used to support the identification of eligible areas for wind and solar power plants with an approach consistent with welfare economics.