Page 21 - Decision Making Applications in Modern Power Systems

2 Decision Making Applications in Modern Power Systems

Among the multiple goals in the agenda, three are focused on the energy.
These are [6]:

1. to provide energy access for everyone by 2030;
2. prominent action plans in order to fight global climatic change; and
3. to reduce the emissions that cause air pollution.
Moreover, rising energy demand along with the depletion of fossil fuels
and environmental issues associated with the use of conventional energy
resources has motivated governments globally to use the renewable energy
sources [7,8]. In the recent few decades, microgrids based on renewable
energy technologies have become popular for electrifying the remote and
isolated areas mostly in developing nations and can certainly provide a solu-
tion for providing energy access to such areas [9,10]. A number of methods
and models exist in the literature for designing the microgrids based on the
renewable energy technologies [11 14]. Sustainable energy design recently
has become a tedious process due to the involvement of multiple perfor-
mance indices having several targets and scenarios [15]. The participation of
many actors having differing perceptions based on numerous aspects of sus-
tainability has made the planning and analysis of systems more difficult [16].
The problem is no longer seen as a singular perspective; rather it is seen
from multiple perspectives and needs to be evaluated based on several traits or
key performance indicators to achieve the perspective of sustainability [17].
For a successful design of the energy systems with sustainability perspective,
a wholesome cooperation is required between differing perspectives of stake-
holders when various scenarios based on different criteria are pondered [18].
For such complex designs, multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) methods
and tools can be effectual while solution accommodating multiple criteria, sta-
keholders and differing views in the same framework [19]. In this chapter a
detailed illustration of MCDM methods, such as analytical hierarchical process
(AHP), technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solutions
(TOPSIS), elimination and choice translating reality (ELECTRE), fuzzy, and
hybrid MCDM models such as AHP TOPSIS and fuzzy AHP is discussed,
which can be efficiently utilized to renewable energy planning and design.

1.1.1 A general perspective

MCDM is a branch of operational research, which uses analytical methods to
make proper decisions. It helps in addressing complex problems dealing with
inconsistent objectives, heterogeneous data, interest, and uncertainty. A gen-
eral classification of the various fields of the operational research is given in
Fig. 1.1.
Multiattribute decision-making (MADM) aims to find distinct alternatives
from a set of alternatives. Multiobjective decision-making (MODM), on the
other hand, is inclined for decision problems that involve multiple objectives