Anticipating alliances of stakeholders in the optimal design of community energy systems

Abstract

This work analyzes the influence of stakeholders in the design of distributed generation systems in rural communities. The developed mathematical model considers the computation of optimal solutions according to the interests of different stakeholders immersed in a multi-criteria decision-making environment. To mitigate the conflict associated with the differences between the participants preferences in the decision-making process, a novel methodology based on the generation of alliances is proposed. A similarity to the political influence and ideological polarization models is employed to identify potential alliances between stakeholders with similar interests and provide optimal solutions associated with each group. Soft-clustering strategies, the concept of ideological distance and modified utopia tracking approach are used in the formation of alliances for trading-off the multiple criteria and mitigating the conflict. To test these ideas, the optimal design of a distributed generation system based on biomass and renewable sources in an indigenous community in West-Central Mexico is addressed. The multi-objective optimization model considers the economic performance of the system, CO2 emissions and employment associated to the energy system. The results show that by implementing this methodology it is possible to propose an attractive solution for all the stakeholders groups, which influences the final design of the community energy system.