EVALUATION OF PHOTOVOLTAIC ENERGY PROJECTS USING THE REAL OPTIONS VALUATION

For sustainable defense management, it is essential to acquire weapons systems that can adapt to future uncertain threats and, at the same time, to invest efficiently with limited budgets. Economic analysis is used to examine the costs, benefits and uncertainties of alternatives. In particular, the use of the real options valuation, which is one of the methodologies of economic analysis, is expanding. The real options valuation has shown effectiveness across various industries to evaluate investment strategies. In this paper, we apply the real options valuation to the weapon systems development case and confirm its usefulness. Unlike previous studies, the real option valuation methodology is applied retroactively to the finished project, compared to existing research mainly applying real options to value research and development (R&D) without knowing how the project completed. We use the following procedure. (1) Define the uncertainties of the three acquisition alternatives (development, technology adoption, and purchase). (2) Calculate the benefits of the three acquisition alternatives with expected and actual data without uncertainties. (3) Model the decision tree without options and with options. (4) Analyze and compare results with benefit and benefit cost ratio. We analyzed the Korea K2 tank powerpack development case by applying real options. We could see that the real options could have reduced the risk of losses when the development risk is high and market uncertainty exists. From the case study of the development of the powerpack, we learned the following three lessons. First, we reaffirmed the importance of objective value analysis in project decision making. Second, we need to analyze the project value continuously and revise the acquisition strategy accordingly. Third, the effectiveness of the real options valuation was confirmed for sustainable defense management. In addition, the real option analysis data acquired from similar finished projects can be useful for establishing a new product acquisition strategy and, at every decision-making phase, the real option evaluation should be continuously performed with updated information. In this paper, we first perform real option valuation of finished weapon systems in the Korean defense field. This paper is valuable in establishing a rational methodology for applying economic analysis to weapon system acquisition projects.

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Compound real options valuation of renewable energy projects: The case of a wind farm in Serbia

Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews ◽

10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.001 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 75 ◽

pp. 354-367 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Dragan Loncar ◽

Ivan Milovanovic ◽

Biljana Rakic ◽

Tamara Radjenovic

Keyword(s):

Renewable Energy ◽

Real Options ◽

Wind Farm ◽

Real Options Valuation ◽

Energy Projects ◽

Options Valuation

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Valuing flexibility in a retrofit investment

Journal of Corporate Real Estate ◽

10.1108/jcre-07-2013-0017 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 16 (1) ◽

pp. 3-21 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Jussi Vimpari ◽

Juho-Kusti Kajander ◽

Seppo Junnila

Keyword(s):

Real Estate ◽

Real Options ◽

Research Process ◽

Real Options Analysis ◽

Content Type ◽

The Real ◽

Real Options Valuation ◽

Corporate Real Estate ◽

Options Valuation

Purpose – The need for flexibility between organisational units is well established in corporate real estate. While the cost of flexibility is rather straightforward to approximate, measuring economical value of the flexibility is not straightforward. The purpose of this paper is to explore how real options analysis can be used for valuing flexibility in a real retrofit investment case, present a research process for valuing the flexibility in the retrofit investment case, and evaluate the empirical usability of real options valuation results compared with traditional discounted cash flow valuation results. Design/methodology/approach – The research is conducted as a case study. A newly introduced real options valuation method, the fuzzy pay-off method is used for analysing data from a Finnish office building retrofit investment case. The major difference in the selected method is that it uses fuzzy set theory instead of probabilistic theory, and the main advantage is the practical applicability, i.e. only three scenarios (minimum, best guess, and maximum) are needed for the valuation of flexibility. In the case, the scenarios are determined using a seven-phase research process that incorporates data available (e.g. rental agreements, building information) to a corporate real estate unit. The research process involves defining vacancy scenarios for rental agreements, transforming them into potential income achievable with flexibility, estimating cost of flexibility, comparing the potential income with the costs, and valuing the real options. Findings – The main finding of this paper is that real options analysis; especially the fuzzy pay-off method can be used for assessing the monetary value of flexibility. The applicability of the fuzzy pay-off method into a practical investment case was found straightforward because assignment of probabilities into different uncertainty scenarios was unnecessary. In the empirical case, it was found that flexibility investments were profitable only when parts of the building instead of the whole building were designed flexible. The present value of the pay-off from flexibility ranged from negative 58/sqm to positive 130/sqm, depending on the tenant. Originality/value – Real options literature, especially in the real estate and construction sector, has requested for new applications of real options analysis in practical setting. This paper adds to that request with an example of evaluating flexibility in a retrofit investment case. The empirical analysis produced in this paper was perceived valuable by case study investor and can be used as a guidance and motivation for further applications of real options in the industry.

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