An Economic and Financial Analysis of a Biomass Energy Project

In the Region of Sicily the use of biomass as a raw material for producing energy could be interesting for its particular nature and for the soil and climatic features of that territory, with significant, highly positive socio-economic consequences. The objective of this study is to evaluate the potential of a cogeneration system (i.e. electrical, thermal and cooling) in the biomass sector, and to perform a reliable environmental, as well as financial and economic analysis of a production process in an area of Eastern Sicily. With respect to the analysis of financial risk linked to the plant, appropriate sensitivity analyses, calculations of particular elasticities and of threshold values will be carried out, considering different scenarios corresponding to diverse combinations of production capacities. This method of analysis has been chosen, rather than using a fuzzy approach to consider the linguistic imprecision, because the data available are always expressed in crisp figures, but they are subject to the uncertainty of temporal dynamics. The results obtained outline a marginal economic advantage, sometimes negative for the majority of the scenarios considered from the point of view of a private investor.