Improving electricity planning-Use of a multicriteria decision making model

Electricity supply planners are now expected to consider a wide range of supply and demand options to meet future power needs. The evaluation is also expected to consider multiple objectives in such diverse areas as quality of supply, cost, environmental and social impacts. Further, there are a range of views on the appropriate weightings for those various considerations. Traditional methods for determining choices are no longer adequate. This paper outlines the development of a powerful tool to facilitate a multiobjective-driven electricity planning process. The multicriteria decision making model allows the evaluation of options against a wide range of criteria, grouped in a hierarchical structure. A formalism for comparing options is explored, showing that the model allows a planner to compare the range of alternatives against both a desired level of performance and a minimum acceptable level. The architecture of a computer-based decision support system is briefly described.