RES MONITOR Methodology
Methodology
//The Database
The Database
The RES Policy Monitoring Database is a comprehensive collection of barriers and best practices for wind and PV technologies across all EU Member States. It comprises over 600 barriers and 90 best practices, which are accessible through targeted research either by country, technology or topic (so-called “categories”).
//Barriers
Identification of the barriers and best practices
The content of the present database focusses on both barriers impeding solar and wind development in the EU Member States, as well as best practices, that can be later disseminated and shared among stakeholders.
Eclareon’s team of country experts carried-out in-depth research in the form of desktop research and live interviews at national level for all the EU Member States. The work was performed on the basis of a uniform research template ensuring comparable results and information flow across countries. For the purpose of their research, eclareon’s country experts followed the current discussions, policy developments and latest trends of their respective Member State on wind and PV technologies. They consulted relevant online sources such as e.g. national news- and expert- websites. Most importantly, they conducted 3 to 7 expert interviews with national stakeholders to better understand the background of existing roadblocks and positive examples.
Eclareon’s team of country experts carried-out in-depth research in the form of desktop research and live interviews at national level for all the EU Member States. The work was performed on the basis of a uniform research template ensuring comparable results and information flow across countries. For the purpose of their research, eclareon’s country experts followed the current discussions, policy developments and latest trends of their respective Member State on wind and PV technologies. They consulted relevant online sources such as e.g. national news- and expert- websites. Most importantly, they conducted 3 to 7 expert interviews with national stakeholders to better understand the background of existing roadblocks and positive examples.
//Classification
Classification of the barriers and best practices
For the sake of comparability and analysis, the barriers and best practices are classified into 6 qualitative categories and 41 sub-categories as presented below:
//gravity
Assessment of the barrier gravity
In addition, the importance of barriers is assessed according to two features:
Both scales are composed of 5 levels in order to define the degree of gravity of a barrier as precisely as possible:
- - The spread level of the barrier, which determines how widely the issue affects RES installations
- - The severity level of the barrier, which determines how critical the issue is for a single RES installation
Both scales are composed of 5 levels in order to define the degree of gravity of a barrier as precisely as possible:
| Scale for Severity | |
|---|---|
| 1 | The identified barrier has minimal effects on the further development of RES installations. It causes no or negligible time loss and has no or negligible financial consequences. |
| 2 | The identified barrier has minor effects on the further development of RES installations. The completion of the installation may be slightly slowed down and financial consequences may (rarely) arise. |
| 3 | The identified barrier has moderate effects on the further development of RES installations, resulting into important time and financial losses. |
| 4 | The identified barrier has substantial effects on the further development of RES installations. The completion of the installation could be seriously jeopardised, resulting into substantial time and financial losses. |
| 5 | The identified barrier has severe effects on the further development of RES installations, leading to project abortion. |
| Scale for Spread | |
|---|---|
| 1 | The barrier impacts sporadic installations of the above-mentioned technologies. |
| 2 | The barrier affects a small fraction of installations of the above-mentioned technologies. |
| 3 | The barrier affects a moderate share of installations of the above-mentioned technologies. |
| 4 | The barrier affects a predominant share of installations of the above-mentioned technologies. |
| 5 | The barrier concerns almost all installations of the above-mentioned technologies. |
//Index
Barrier index
The RES Policy Monitoring Database also provides a barrier index, which indicates the degree of gravity of identified barriers per country and topic. It is calculated based on the maximum of assessed severity and spread values for all affected technologies. The comparative barrier indexes are presented through heat maps (under “Key Findings” and the country summaries), i.e. with a colour scale indicating the level of index. The darker the colour, the more important the barriers.