In the current era of sustainable development, energy planning has become complex due to the involvement of multiple benchmarks like technical, social, economic and environmental. This in turn puts major constraints for decision makers to optimize energy alternatives independently and discretely especially in case of rural communities. In addition, topographical limitations concerning renewable energy systems which are mostly distributed in nature, the energy planning becomes more complicated. In such cases, decision analysis plays a vital role for designing such systems by considering various criteria and objectives even at disintegrated levels of electrification. Multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) is a branch of operational research dealing with finding optimal results in complex scenarios including various indicators, conflicting objectives and criteria. This tool is becoming popular in the field of energy planning due to the flexibility it provides to the decision makers to take decisions while considering all the criteria and objectives simultaneously. This article develops an insight into various MCDM techniques, progress made by considering renewable energy applications over MCDM methods and future prospects in this area. An extensive review in the sphere of sustainable energy has been performed by utilizing MCDM technique.

A review of multi criteria decision making (MCDM) towards sustainable renewable energy development

Most decision making requires the consideration of several conflicting objectives. The term multiple criteria decision analysis (MCDA) describes various methods developed for aiding decision makers in reaching better decisions. Energy planning problems are complex problems with multiple decision makers and multiple criteria. Therefore, these problems are quite suited to the use of MCDA. A multitude of MCDA methods exists. These methods can be divided in three main groups; value measurement models, goal, aspiration and reference level models, and outranking models. Methods from all of these groups have been applied to energy planning problems, particularly in the evaluation of alternative electricity supply strategies. Each of the methods has its advantages and drawbacks. However, we cannot conclude that one method generally is better suited than the others for energy planning problems. A good alternative might be to apply more than one method, either in combination to make use of the strengths of both methods, or in parallel to get a broader decision basis for the decision maker. Until now, studies of MCDA in energy planning have most often considered energy networks with only one energy carrier. More advanced energy systems with multiple energy carriers have been neglected, even though this field ought to be suitable for use of MCDA due to its high complexity, many decision makers and many conflicting criteria.

Use of multicriteria decision analysis methods for energy planning problems

Decision analysis in energy and environmental modeling: An update

This paper proposes a novel approach for providing long-run incremental cost (LRIC) pricing in network charges. The proposed approach makes use of the unused capacity of an exiting network to reflect the cost of advancing or deferring future investment consequent upon the addition of generation or load at each study node on a distribution network. Compared with existing approaches to LRIC pricing, the proposed approach produces forward-looking charges that reflect both the extent of the network needed to service the generation or load, and the degree to which that network is utilized. The efficacy of the proposed LRIC approach has been validated by a comparison with the established investment cost related pricing (ICRP) method used for deriving transmission charges in Great Brain (GB). This paper draws on work undertaken in projects for Western Power Distribution and Ofgem (Office of Gas and Electricity Markets, U.K.). However, the views expressed in this paper are those of the authors.

Long-Run Incremental Cost Pricing Based on Unused Capacity

Megawatt (MW) power flow tracing can assess the extent of network usage by the participants that can be effectively used for multiple objectives like transmission pricing, loss allocation, etc. MW power tracing, a post-facto analysis of power flow solution, is amenable to multiple solutions. This implies multiplicity of solution space of transmission cost and loss allocation problems. The conventional tracing methods enforce a "proportionate sharing rule" to calculate the shares. These shares are sensitive to quantity and distance as against the postage stamp method, which is immune to distance. Any of these methods will result in penalizing a set of constituents, which raises a fairness issue. This is evident from the experiences of developing countries like India. In this paper, a new paradigm is suggested that attempts to capture the best of the two methodologies by exploring multiplicity of the solution space of the tracing problem, within the given constraints. We show that the tracing problem can be formulated as a linear constrained optimization problem. We propose a tracing compliant modified postage stamp allocation method that computes a traceable solution that minimizes overall deviation from the postage stamp allocation. Results on actual data of central transmission utility of Western Regional Grid of India demonstrate the claims

Optimization approach to real power tracing: an application to transmission fixed cost allocation

This paper presents an overview of usage-based methods of transmission cost allocation under open access. Allocation of transmission costs involves both technical and regulatory issues, and as a result, the methods available in the literature differ in their definition and measure of the "extent of use" of transmission resources. The primary objective of this paper is to provide a summary of techniques used for designing fair and equitable access fees for the recovery of fixed transmission costs. The discussion is thus organized under two major subtopics: algorithms for transmission usage evaluation and alternative pricing strategies. Numerical examples are provided to show the results using different methods.

Review of usage-based transmission cost allocation methods under open access

Multi-attribute decision making (MADM) methods have been widely used in the strategic planning of electric utilities for selecting the best resource strategy with regard to the chosen attributes. In many MADM problems, however, the information available to the decision-maker (DM) is often imprecise due to inaccurate attribute measurements and inconsistent priority judgments. This paper presents an interval-based MADM approach in support of the decision making process with imprecise information. The proposed MADM methodology is based on the model of lineal additive utility function but extends the problem formulation with the measure of composite utility variance. Its main contribution is to help the DM gain insight into how the imprecise data may affect the choice toward the best solution and how a set of acceptable alternatives may be identified with certain confidence. Sample case studies are provided to illustrate the concepts introduced in this paper.

An interval-based MADM approach to the identification of candidate alternatives in strategic resource planning

The original paper ("Review of usage-based transmission cost allocation methods under open access", see ibid. vol.15, no.4, p.1218-24, 2000) is discussed by two separate groups of authors. The responses of the original authors are also presented as a closure to these discussions.

Review of usage-based transmission cost allocation methods under open access [discussion]

This paper presents an overview of usage-based methods of transmission cost allocation under open access. Allocation of transmission costs involves both technical and regulatory issues, and as a result, the methods available in the literature differ in their definition and measure of the “extent of use” of transmission resources. The primary objective of this paper is to provide a summary of recent techniques used for designing fair and equitable access fees for the recovery of fixed transmission costs. The discussion is thus organized under two major subtopics: algorithms for transmission usage evaluation and alternative pricing strategies. Numerical examples are provided to show the results using different methods.

Jiuping Pan

Papers

Review of usage-based transmission cost allocation methods under open access

An interval-based MADM approach to the identification of candidate alternatives in strategic resource planning

Review of usage-based transmission cost allocation methods under open access [discussion]

Closure to discussion of "review of usage-based transmission cost allocation methods under open access"