A social cost-benefit analysis: comparison of coal and wind alternatives in the case of Soma-A power plant

A social cost-benefit analysis: comparison of coal and wind alternatives in the case of Soma-A power plant As in many countries, decision-makers in Turkey are facing a dilemma between the use of relatively rich and cheap domestic fossil resources to get rid of the energy bottleneck and external dependency and the use of domestic renewable resources to be environmental friendly and climate conscious. In this study, our aim is to determine social benefits and costs of producing electricity from coal and wind resources; and examine two scenarios using the social cost benefit analysis: (i) Continuing the operation of Soma-A Power Plant that utilizes domestic lignite; (ii) Replacing Soma-A Power Plant by a wind power plant that produces the same amount of electricity annually. The analysis shows that the wind plant is socially more desirable than the lignite power plant for Soma and the use of social cost benefit analysis is of great importance for the evaluation of alternative energy projects and policies.