Thermal power plant location in the region with decentralized power supply under multi-attribute conditions considering imprecisely expressed preferences of decision makers

The purpose of the paper is to consider the problem of decision-making on location of a thermal power plant. Traditionally, the problem of choosing the location of any power station consists of two main stages - location selection and a station capacity option. The first stage is the most difficult due to such factors as multi-criteria, high degree of information uncertainty, weak structuring. The need for anticipatory decision-making on further aspects of the problem including site selection and station capacity particularly complicates the location choice. To determine the best location of the power plant a multi-attribute problem is formulated distinguishing two levels of alternatives - location points and power plant implementation options. Due to the fact that analysis conditions of alternatives of two levels differ, it is proposed to apply two methods of multi-attribute analysis. A methodology of two-level multi-attribute analysis of alternatives that uses the method of multi-attribute utility theory and hierarchy analysis is proposed. An example of choosing a location for a thermal power plant in the area with decentralized power supply is given. Towards this end in view, the criteria of the selection problem are defined at two levels of analysis. Attention is also paid to the application of the method of multi-attribute utility theory for the case of determining the single-criterion value function of a non-monotonic type in terms of searching for the “optimal” capacity of a thermal power plant.

system analysis in power engineering, multi-attribute condition, multi-attribute utility theory, hierarchy analysis method, power plant location, decentralized power supply