Cost-Benefit Analysis

Gain insight into the financial and (socio-) economic performance of your project or innovation

Public Funding
Innovation Consultancy
Digital Innovation
Project Implementation 

How do you demonstrate the wider value of your innovation to investors, policymakers, or funding bodies? And how do you ensure your project delivers positive societal impact while remaining financially sound?

A societal Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) helps answers these questions with clarity. We estimate, quantify and monetize the socio-economic costs and benefits of your project,ranging from environmental and innovation impacts to regional economic benefits. Based on this insight, you can make well-founded decisions: whether you are choosing between project alternatives, assessing the broader value of your investment, or demonstrating the societal impact of your initiative to key stakeholders.

Our Impact Assessment Centre supports clients across sectors, from energy (hydrogen, CCS, electricity) to mobility (rail, ports, alternative fuels) and waste processing, combining deep domain knowledge with proven methods. Whether you are an innovator, policymaker, or investor, we help you make decisions that are not only financially viable, but socially impactful too.

 

Service in more detail

A societal Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) assesses the value of a project from the perspective of society as a whole, not just from the project owner’s viewpoint. This includes all potential costs and benefits that affect stakeholders, both positively and negatively. As part of the societal Cost-Benefit Analysis, we consider two key perspectives:

  • A financial analysis, which focuses on cash flows related to the project owner. It answers questions about profitability, investments needs, and financial sustainability.
  • An economic analysis, which broadens the scope to include wider societal costs and benefits and focus on the project’s contribution to welfare. This results in a comprehensive overview of the project’s economic performance.

Unlike a standard financial analysis, a societal Cost-Benefit Analysis also looks beyond the direct financial effects for the project owner. It includes all the costs and benefits that affect society as a whole. The societal CBA provides a structured and objective method for evaluating projects by quantifying both economic and financial costs and benefits. For this reason, CBAs are a recognized requirement for multiple European funding schemes, such as the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for Energy (CEF-E) and Transport (CEF-T and CEF-AFIF) schemes, as well as for applications for Projects of Common Interest (PCI)

For our CBAs, we follow a structured, four-phase process:

Together, we define the scope of the analysis in terms of project scope, project boundaries, methodological considerations and a relevant reference scenario.

We gather and analyze all relevant data -financial and socio-economic- based on your project scope.

We translate the data into clear metrics to quantify and calculate the actual impact of the project.

You receive a comprehensive report and accompanying Excel file with detailed calculations, assumptions, and conclusions, based on the results of the quantification phase.

What you get: clarity and credibility

Our CBAs result in a clear, structured report that covers both financial and (socio-)economic outcomes of your project. The report includes:

  • Key conclusions and policy implications
  • A detailed overview of data, the most important assumptions, and calculations behind these results.
  • An Excel file with all calculation models and underlying data.

85
CBAs completed

15+
sectors covered

10+
years of experience with CBAs for all Connecting Europe Facility-programmes 

Our references

Why choose PNO Innovation?

Experts in impact assessment Experts in impact assessment

Our consultants specialize in assessing the impact of innovation. Our impact assessment specialists have extensive experience in conducting cost-benefit analyses, both as a tool for evidence-based decision-making and comparing project alternatives, as well as for substantiating the impact of a project as required for obtaining (European) funding (such as CEF Transport, CEF Energy, CEF AFIF).

Cross-sector experience Cross-sector experience

We have a track-record on CBAs for various topics, ranging from projects develop ingenergy (hydrogen, CCS, electricity) infrastructure and mobility infrastructure (rail, ports, alternative fuels), to projects focused on for example waste processing technologies. In addition, we tailor every CBA to the impacts and methodologies most relevant to your sector and key stakeholders.

Aligned with EU funding needs Aligned with EU funding needs

We understand what funders expect. With extensive experience applying CBA methods required by European funding programs, we know how to make the link between your innovation project and impact assessment requirements for your funding application. Our specialists help you build credible, compliant, and transparent impact cases that fits the requirements for your funding application.

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