Analysis of the promotion of onshore wind energy in the EU: Feed-in tariff or renewable portfolio standard?

This paper provides an empirical evaluation of feed-in tariff and renewable portfolio standard policies applied to onshore wind power in the EU-28 over the period 2000-2014. It allows policy-makers to know: a) if these policies have actually increased onshore wind generation capacity compared to a scenario without regulatory supports, b) which policy led to most onshore wind generation capacity, c) the impact of policy design elements on onshore wind generation capacity. The results suggest that only feed-in tariff policies and their main policy design elements (contract duration and tariff price) have significant impacts in terms of installed capacity. The establishment of a more risk-free framework would be necessary in renewable portfolio standard policies in order to increase investor confidence.