Valuing the visual impact of wind farms: An application in South Evia, Greece

This study presents an application of the Contingent Valuation Method (CVM) for valuing the landscape externalities associated with the large-scale exploitation of wind power at the local level. The survey was undertaken in South Evia, Greece, which is a region with rich wind energy potential and a considerable number of wind farms in operation during the period of the study. The results showed that 57% of the households are not willing to contribute financially in order to implement interventions to mitigate the visual impact of wind farms. The mean willingness to pay per household to avoid the visual impact attributed to the installation of new wind farms in the area in question was estimated at (sic)41.6/year taking into account all households of the sample. This estimate is relatively lower compared to the results of other relevant studies. As shown by a meta-analysis developed based on these studies, this is mainly attributed to the great recession in Greece and the reduced available income of households. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.