Sustainability Assessment of an Onshore Wind Portfolio in Germany

The assessment concludes that the onshore wind portfolio is a more resilient and profitable investment than a comparable gas-fired power plant when climate risks and externalities are internalized. While the wind portfolio's performance slightly diminishes when externalities are monetized, the gas-fired plant becomes financially unattractive, with its internal rate of return (IRR) turning negative under a carbon tax scenario.

• The integrated Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) shows the onshore wind portfolio is more profitable than the gas-fired power plant, with SAVi net results of 21.58 million EUR compared to negative 2.87 million EUR for the gas plant.
• From a societal perspective, the integrated Levelized Cost of Electricity (LCOE) for onshore wind is approximately 18.5% lower than that of the gas-fired power plant, at 68.76 EUR/MWh versus 81.48 EUR/MWh.
• The gas-fired power plant is highly vulnerable to transitional climate risks; the imposition of a carbon tax of EUR 25/t CO2 would cause both its project and equity internal rate of return (IRR) to become negative.
• The onshore wind portfolio demonstrates high financial resilience to the assessed climate risks, with its project IRR (4.93%) and equity IRR (6.70%) remaining unchanged regardless of air temperature increases or carbon taxes.
• Internalizing externalities reduces the financial attractiveness of the wind portfolio, lowering its project IRR from 4.93% to 4.09% and its equity IRR from 6.70% to 5.23%.

APA

Uzsoki, D., Bassi, A. M., Perera, O., Wuennenberg, L., & Pallaske, G. (n.d.). Sustainability Assessment of an Onshore Wind Portfolio in Germany. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-10/savi-onshore-wind-germany-brochure.pdf

Chicago

Uzsoki, David, Andrea M. Bassi, Oshani Perera, Laurin Wuennenberg, and Georg Pallaske. Sustainability Assessment of an Onshore Wind Portfolio in Germany. International Institute for Sustainable Development, n.d. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-10/savi-onshore-wind-germany-brochure.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Uzsoki |first1=David |last2=Bassi |first2=Andrea M. |last3=Perera |first3=Oshani |last4=Wuennenberg |first4=Laurin |last5=Pallaske |first5=Georg |title=Sustainability Assessment of an Onshore Wind Portfolio in Germany |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-10/savi-onshore-wind-germany-brochure.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{uzsokindsustainability, author = {Uzsoki, David and Bassi, Andrea M. and Perera, Oshani and Wuennenberg, Laurin and Pallaske, Georg}, title = {{Sustainability Assessment of an Onshore Wind Portfolio in Germany}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/2020-10/savi-onshore-wind-germany-brochure.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }