Bakalauro baigiamajame darbe analizuojamas investicijų poveikis ūkių veiklos plėtrai. Tiriamą problemą apibūdina klausimai: kokią įtaką analizuojamiems ūkiams turėjo suteikta investicinė parama? Kokie būtų ūkių veiklos rodikliai be paramos? Darbą sudaro dvi dalys. Pirmoje darbo dalyje nagrinėjama investicijų samprata, procesas bei elementai. Pateikiama investicijų klasifikacija. Analizuojama, kokią reikšmę investicijos turi ekonomikai, kas lemia investicijų apimtis. Darbe pateikiamos priežastys, dėl kurių investicijos žemės ūkiui yra būtinos, išskiriamas žemės ūkio veiklos specifiškumas, skirtumai nuo kitų verslo formų. Darbe aptariama veiklos plėtros sąvoka bei metodai, kuriais galima išmatuoti, kaip atskiro ūkio plėtrą paveikė gauta investicinė parama. Tai atsispindi apskaičiavus ūkių pelningumo, mokumo, stabilumo ir efektyvumo bei turto panaudojimo ir atnaujinimo rodiklius, įvertinama, ar atskiras ūkis atitinka ekonomiškai gyvybingo ūkio statusą. Investicinė parama turi reikšmės ir technologiniams, socialiniams bei ekologiniams pokyčiams ūkiuose. Antroje darbo dalyje vertinama ūkių veikla, nustatomi ekonominiai rodikliai. Pateikiami ūkių, pasinaudojusių investicine parama, veiklos rezultatai. Siekiant išsiaiškinti ne tik ekonominius ūkių veiklos rezultatus, kuriuos įtakojo investicinė parama, bet ir kitus pokyčius, buvo naudojamas interviu. Jo metu apklausti šeši ūkininkai. / Bachelor thesis analyzes the impact of the investment activities on the farms’ economic efficiency. The analyzes is expressed by answering to the questions: What was the impact on the farms which were given the investment support? What could have been the performance of the same farms without the support? The research consists of two parts. The first part interprets the concept of the investment, the elements of this process, and the classification of the investments. It analyzes the significance of the investments to the economy and the factors determining the volume of the investment. The research presents the necessity of agricultural investments. The thesis specifies the agriculture’s difference from other business forms. The paper discusses the development of operational concepts and methods which can be used to measure the impact of the investments on the farms’ economic efficiency. This is reflected in the calculation of the farm’s profitability, solvency, stability, efficiency, asset utilization, and renewal rates. The investment support has not only economic effects, but it also has significant impact on technological, social and ecological change on farms. The second part analyzes the economic performance of farms. The research presents the performance of farms which benefited from the investment support. It also analyzes the performance of the farm which has not received any investment. The data is compared in relative terms. It presents the visible effect on the... [to full text]

<p>There often exist hard-to-identify or unforeseen external parties that emerge as indirect stakeholders of a project who can significantly influence its execution and outcome. The broader stakeholder landscape in both theory and practice recognizes the local community including other interest groups of a project site as such key stakeholders. However recent cases have revealed shortcomings in managing this category of stakeholders, leading to authoritative rejection of development permit applications and strong local opposition that consequently increase costs and delay to the project. There is indication that a weak community stakeholder management process in the planning stages can cause problems to the project, or worse, in some cases lead to project failure and abandonment by the developer. Wind energy development projects are not exempted from this condition and are possibly even more prone as they involve the erection of tall wind turbines across wide-open landscapes that are deemed controversial and unacceptable to a wider population. Endorsed by the persuasive rationale for wind energy especially in view of the environment and sustainable development, a more comprehensive and effective guidance for community stakeholder management in the planning stage is required to mitigate, if not eliminate, potential issues that can hinder the successful implementation of wind energy development projects. Hence this thesis primarily seeks to answer the research question of: “How should community stakeholders of wind energy development projects be managed in the planning stage prior to permit application?”.</p><p>Using a qualitative approach to research through interviews with several industry practitioners and reviewing secondary data of industry best practices, policies, literature and case studies, 16 community stakeholder management key conclusion points could be made from research data collected. These points are individually important while in aggregate form a broad and novel framework that serves to further raise the awareness and readiness of wind energy development project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives. A baseline list of community stakeholders and their common concerns were identified, together with suggested approaches to identify community stakeholders in each project. Community consultation is key to the process and engaging the community as widely and early as possible is recommended. Furthermore, key principles and an array of common methods for community stakeholder management in the planning stages of the project are presented, while acknowledging that not all stakeholders can be satisfied at each instance. Ultimately these findings were consolidated in a community consultation checklist that serves as a more systematic and practical tool in guiding project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives during planning.</p><p>The research findings herewith contribute valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge in this area and also provide enhanced practical guidance to project managers in achieving successful community stakeholder management during planning, facilitating higher acceptance for the proposal, carrying out a more efficient and effective planning process and improving the likelihood for project approval from both authoritative and judiciary standpoints.</p>

<p>There are several participants in the renewable energy sector, each one having their own perspective, according to their interests. One renewable source of energy is wind. Development of wind energy projects is complex and implies the conjunction of several endeavors that are hard to be undertaken by only one organization. The complexity of wind energy projects demands the interaction among actors, that is, the creation of partnerships.</p><p> </p><p>The purpose of this study is to question the nature of partnerships as a response to strategic decisions for the implementation of wind energy projects and to provide arguments to state that partnerships are indeed strategic. By making a comparison of the different roles of the actors involved in the sector and having a theoretical support created by a literature review of the subject, authors’ arguments are based on the analysis of six different perspectives from those actors in the wind energy arena: Utilities company, wind energy projects developers, government, financial institutions, international organization and consultants.</p><p>A qualitative approach guided the identification of the role of these wind energy participants as their perspective in the sector. Perspective cases were formed through interviews made to representatives of different actors and through secondary data.</p><p>Having an empirical approach, some wind energy projects and their involved partnerships were identified and analyzed. In addition, by analyzing the critical success factors of partnerships that influence crucial aspects for implementation of wind energy projects, it was confirmed that good partnerships are based on trust and their success is the result of establishing clear objectives and defining the roles and responsibilities of each partner. Besides, considerations regarding control management of partnership deployment among actors of the energy sector are suggested.</p><p>Latterly, it was uncovered that organizations sometimes do not recognize their relationships as partnerships, due to the bare understanding of the scope of <em>partnership </em>concept. In practice, partnership is conceived as a long-term relationship, while relationships for a limited time are commonly identified as contracts. However, it was concluded that in any case a partnership is developed, as partners gather their own expertise to achieve common goals.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p>This research is meant to be a reference for decision-making individuals or project managers that need to evaluate ways to implement strategies. Also this study is conceived for those that need to decide if it is worthy to establish a partnership and its considerations, as a response to strategic decisions.</p><p> </p>

There are several participants in the renewable energy sector, each one having their own perspective, according to their interests. One renewable source of energy is wind. Development of wind energy projects is complex and implies the conjunction of several endeavors that are hard to be undertaken by only one organization. The complexity of wind energy projects demands the interaction among actors, that is, the creation of partnerships.   The purpose of this study is to question the nature of partnerships as a response to strategic decisions for the implementation of wind energy projects and to provide arguments to state that partnerships are indeed strategic. By making a comparison of the different roles of the actors involved in the sector and having a theoretical support created by a literature review of the subject, authors’ arguments are based on the analysis of six different perspectives from those actors in the wind energy arena: Utilities company, wind energy projects developers, government, financial institutions, international organization and consultants. A qualitative approach guided the identification of the role of these wind energy participants as their perspective in the sector. Perspective cases were formed through interviews made to representatives of different actors and through secondary data. Having an empirical approach, some wind energy projects and their involved partnerships were identified and analyzed. In addition, by analyzing the critical success factors of partnerships that influence crucial aspects for implementation of wind energy projects, it was confirmed that good partnerships are based on trust and their success is the result of establishing clear objectives and defining the roles and responsibilities of each partner. Besides, considerations regarding control management of partnership deployment among actors of the energy sector are suggested. Latterly, it was uncovered that organizations sometimes do not recognize their relationships as partnerships, due to the bare understanding of the scope of partnership concept. In practice, partnership is conceived as a long-term relationship, while relationships for a limited time are commonly identified as contracts. However, it was concluded that in any case a partnership is developed, as partners gather their own expertise to achieve common goals.     This research is meant to be a reference for decision-making individuals or project managers that need to evaluate ways to implement strategies. Also this study is conceived for those that need to decide if it is worthy to establish a partnership and its considerations, as a response to strategic decisions.

There often exist hard-to-identify or unforeseen external parties that emerge as indirect stakeholders of a project who can significantly influence its execution and outcome. The broader stakeholder landscape in both theory and practice recognizes the local community including other interest groups of a project site as such key stakeholders. However recent cases have revealed shortcomings in managing this category of stakeholders, leading to authoritative rejection of development permit applications and strong local opposition that consequently increase costs and delay to the project. There is indication that a weak community stakeholder management process in the planning stages can cause problems to the project, or worse, in some cases lead to project failure and abandonment by the developer. Wind energy development projects are not exempted from this condition and are possibly even more prone as they involve the erection of tall wind turbines across wide-open landscapes that are deemed controversial and unacceptable to a wider population. Endorsed by the persuasive rationale for wind energy especially in view of the environment and sustainable development, a more comprehensive and effective guidance for community stakeholder management in the planning stage is required to mitigate, if not eliminate, potential issues that can hinder the successful implementation of wind energy development projects. Hence this thesis primarily seeks to answer the research question of: “How should community stakeholders of wind energy development projects be managed in the planning stage prior to permit application?”. Using a qualitative approach to research through interviews with several industry practitioners and reviewing secondary data of industry best practices, policies, literature and case studies, 16 community stakeholder management key conclusion points could be made from research data collected. These points are individually important while in aggregate form a broad and novel framework that serves to further raise the awareness and readiness of wind energy development project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives. A baseline list of community stakeholders and their common concerns were identified, together with suggested approaches to identify community stakeholders in each project. Community consultation is key to the process and engaging the community as widely and early as possible is recommended. Furthermore, key principles and an array of common methods for community stakeholder management in the planning stages of the project are presented, while acknowledging that not all stakeholders can be satisfied at each instance. Ultimately these findings were consolidated in a community consultation checklist that serves as a more systematic and practical tool in guiding project managers in their community stakeholder management initiatives during planning. The research findings herewith contribute valuable insights to the existing body of knowledge in this area and also provide enhanced practical guidance to project managers in achieving successful community stakeholder management during planning, facilitating higher acceptance for the proposal, carrying out a more efficient and effective planning process and improving the likelihood for project approval from both authoritative and judiciary standpoints.

Disertacijoje pateikiama žemės ūkio paskirties žemės rinkų raidos analizė, pagal apžvelgtą teorinę medžiagą pasiūlant kompleksinę tyrimų schemą ir pritaikant ją Lietuvos žemės rinkos kūrimuisi ir vystymuisi tirti. Rinkų raida nagrinėjama keturiais detalumo lygmenimis: šalies, regioniniu, vietiniu ir specialiuoju (miestų plėtros veikiamų teritorijų) mastu. Pasiūlomi ir pagrindžiami matematiniai sąryšius aprašantys modeliai, pateikiamos darbo išvados ir siūlymai. / Dissertation represents analysis of agricultural land markets development. The analysis was performed by proposing a complex analytical model system and applying it for the investigation of land market development and evolution in Lithuania. Land market development is analysed at 4 levels: state, regional, local and special (in territories affected by urban sprawl). Mathematical models are proposed and validated for the description of relationship and interconnections in land market. From results of the models, conclusions and some suggestions were made.

This is a summary of doctoral dissertation. Dissertation represents analysis of agricultural land markets development. The analysis was performed by proposing a complex analytical model system and applying it for the investigation of land market development and evolution in Lithuania. / Tai yra daktaro disertacijos santrauka. Disertacijoje pateikiama žemės ūkio paskirties žemės rinkų raidos analizė, pagal apžvelgtą teorinę medžiagą pasiūlant kompleksinę tyrimų schemą ir pritaikant ją Lietuvos žemės rinkos kūrimuisi ir vystymuisi tirti.

Reef habitats built by the tubiculous polychaete Sabellaria spinulosa have been identified as a habitat with significant conservation importance, based on their historic decline across Europe and the assumption that, like many other biogenic reef systems, S. spinulosa reefs enhance biodiversity. Despite the high conservation status of this habitat very little work has been undertaken to explore the role that S. spinulosa reefs play in marine ecosystems, or their sensitivity to anthropogenic disturbance. Observations of the reproductive ecology and population dynamics of the reef building organism indicate that S. spinulosa exhibit life-history traits typically associated with r-strategists, indicating that this species is likely to have the ability to recover quickly following most anthropogenic disturbance events. A series of surveys on S. spinulosa reefs identified at the Thanet Offshore Wind Farm site, where the extent of the reef habitat was found to have increased between the pre-construction and post construction survey despite extensive cable laying and turbine installation, corroborates these findings. Detailed investigations into the macrofauna associated with S. spinulosa reefs in the eastern English Channel revealed that S. spinulosa reefs support macrofaunal communities that are comparable to those associated with adjacent muddy sandy gravel and gravelly muddy sand in terms of species composition, taxonomic breadth and beta-diversity. A consistent enhancement in species richness, abundance and biomass was identified in samples collected from S. spinulosa reefs when compared with adjacent sedimentary deposits, as well as a corresponding reduction in the equitability of species, indicating that some macrofauna are able to exist in higher densities within this habitat. The increase in macrofaunal biomass associated with S. spinulosa reefs was found to influence the diet of demersal fish species, with some species feeding on the reef organism itself while others feed on species found in high densities on the reefs. The high abundance of juvenile flatfish associated with this habitat also suggests that S. spinulosa reefs may provide an important nursery habitat.

Nordex, a wind-turbine manufacturer and developer, has just launched the development activity over Belgium’s French-speaking Region – the Walloon Region – with the current political context favorable to wind energy deployment. Since the Walloon market is unknown, the master thesis aims to identify the appropriate approach to use for optimal wind farm development and the critical issues that may impinge on it. The scope of the master thesis is thus to find two to three sites well suited for wind farm implementation in the province of Luxembourg and to develop these sites.  An exhaustive study of the wind farm potential of the province of Luxembourg has been led, based on geographic data analysis with the GIS ArcGIS®, feasibility studies conducting, meetings with districts’ administration as well as visits onsite. In addition, a thorough comparative analysis of the Belgian specification for grid connection has been performed to identify any requirement that is not included in the French and German grid codes, which are the benchmarks of the development activity in Nordex France. Many obstacles have been encountered in wind farm development, chiefly a strong existing competition in the wind energy sector and a limited grid capacity. In addition time can be a friend but it can also sometimes be a foe at some stages that rely on public administration. Consequently from the 40 identified sites with ArcGIS®, only three have succeeded. Regarding the Belgian requirements for grid connection, all can be met thanks to an existing German specification data sheet. Eventually the Walloon policy towards wind energy development is expected to evolve so as to foster wind farm deployment in Wallonia and to reach the objectives set for 2020 (2200 MW of installed wind capacity while in January 2011 only 440 MW were in operation). Consequently to that, Nordex’ approach may have to adapt to the new regulations.

Wind is a fast growing energy resource and the demand for clean energy is increasing with growing interests from media, governmental institutions and the public (EWEA, 2004). The increased interest towards the wind energy market has led to a more competitive environment where it is crucial for a project developer to select projects most likely to succeed, in terms of profitability, among alternatives on the market. To enable such selection, an evaluation process is often applied. Furthermore, traditional evaluation processes are often performed at completion of a project where an early indication of a project’s potential profitability is often missing (Samset &amp; Christensen, 2015). At the early phase of a wind energy project the multiple factors influencing the project’s outcome are often conflicting and contain high level of uncertainty and the evaluation process becomes complex (Kumar et al., 2017). In addition, these factors are difficult to quantify and to determine their relative weight of importance (Çolak &amp; Kaya, 2017). This thesis aims to problematise the early project phase by contributing with a practical tool for evaluating wind energy projects at this phase. In addition, the thesis aims to contribute with an identification and monetarily quantification of the important factors to assess when doing so. The thesis is conducted as a case study at a company developing wind energy projects in Sweden. Due to the multiple factors that influencing a project’s outcome, MCDM (multi-criteria decisionmaking) analysis is used as the research process to create the tool. Findings from this study show that key factors that are possible to quantify at an early phase are conditions for civil works, grid conditions, wind resource and electricity price area. In general, their relative importance, measured in relative increase of IRR, is wind resource, electricity price area, grid conditions and civil works in the descending order. This study has four contributions, three theoretical and one practical. Firstly, the study confirms MCDM as a suitable analysis to use, when creating an evaluation model for wind energy projects. Secondly, the study confirms most of the important factors mentioned in the literature to assess when evaluating a wind energy project. However, this study contributes with insights that only conditions for civil works, grid conditions, wind resource and electricity price area can be quantified for the purpose of creating an evaluation tool at an early phase. Thirdly, previous studies have focused less on determining the relative weight of importance of the relevant key factors and this study contributes by quantifying and determining which of these key factors that are of relevance in an evaluation. Lastly, this study contributes practically by creating an evaluation tool suggested to be used by the case company to compare different projects on the market and form investment decisions based on financial data. Furthermore, the tool facilitates an equal evaluation process for all projects, thus leading to a more standardised decision-making process where the case company can focus their resources on the projects most likely to succeed. / Vind är en snabbväxande energiresurs där efterfrågan efter grön energi ökar från media, statliga myndigheter och allmänheten. Det ständigt ökande intresset av vindenergi har lett till en allt mer konkurrenskraftig marknad där det är viktigt för en projektutvecklare att välja de projekt som är mest troliga att bli lönsamma bland de tillgängliga projekten på marknaden. Dessa urval sker oftast genom en projektutvärderingsprocess. Dock sker merparten av de traditionella projektutvärderingarna i slutet av ett projekt där en tidig indikation rörande ett projektet lönsamhet oftast saknas (Samset &amp; Christensen, 2015). Anledningen till detta är att vindkraftsprojekt består av flera motsägande faktorer med en hög osäkerhet som påverkar ett projekts resultat, vilket leder till en komplex utvärderingsprocess i ett tidigt skede (Kumar et al., 2017). Dessutom är dessa faktorer svåra att kvantifiera vilket gör det svårt att vidare bestämma deras relation i förhållande till varandra (Çolak &amp; Kaya, 2017). Detta examensarbete ämnar därför till att problematisera den komplexa utvärderingsprocessen i ett tidigt skedde genom att skapa ett praktiskt verktyg för en simplifierad utvärderingsprocess av vindkraftsprojekt. Detta examensarbete är utformat som en fallstudie på ett företag i Sverige som utvecklar vindkraftsprojekt. På grund av antalet faktorer som påverkar projektens lönsamhet används MCDM-analys som forskningsprocess för att skapa verktyget. Resultat från denna studie visar att de nyckelfaktorer som är möjliga att kvantifiera i det tidiga skede är: infrastruktur, nätanslutning, vindresurs och elprisområde. Resultaten visar även att faktorernas påverkan, mätt i relativ ökning av IRR, är i fallande ordning: vindresurs, elprisområde, nätanslutning och infrastruktur och att dessa, i fallande ordning, är relevanta att utvärdera. Denna studie har totalt fyra bidrag, varav tre teoretiska och ett praktiskt bidrag. Det första bidraget är en konfirmation av att MCDM är en lämplig analysmetod vid skapandet av utvärderingsverktyget. Det andra bidraget är en konfirmation av de faktorer som nämns i litteraturen som viktiga vid en utvärderingsprocess i ett tidigt skede. Dock är endast faktorerna infrastruktur, nätanslutning, vindresurs och elprisområde möjliga att kvantifiera i detta skede. Det tredje bidraget är kunskap gällande faktorernas förhållande till varandra och vilka som är relevanta att utvärdera. Det praktiska bidraget är utvärderingsverktyget där företaget rekommenderas att använda det för att jämföra olika projekt på marknaden och fatta välinformerade beslut baserat på finansiell data. Dessutom bidrar verktyget med en likvärdig utvärderingsprocess för alla projekt vilket leder till en mer standardiserad beslutsprocess där företaget kan fokusera sina resurser på de projekt som är mest troliga att bli lönsamma.