Site Assessment

Site assessment is a cost-effective pre-feasibility analysis developed, as part of the Global Atlas for Renewable Energy Initiative, to support countries in finding economically viable sites for onshore solar (photovoltaic, parabolic trough collector, central receiver system, floating solar, and linear Fresnel) and wind (onshore and offshore) project development.

The assessment is conducted in close consultations with country representatives and includes:

• Technical assessment, which calculates the energy output of the power plant using site-specific renewable resource data, and industry-standard energy yield models and methodologies.
• Financial assessmen4, which simulates the tariffs and levelized costs that make a site viable for project development.

Through this service, the Agency has assisted local authorities – ministries and public utilities in several countries in Africa, Latin America, and Small Island Developing States (SIDs), in selecting and screening more than 150 promising sites for solar and onshore wind power projects.