Modeling of the Optimization Procedure for Selecting the Location of New Thermal Power Plants (TPP)

Abstract

At the level of design of thermal power plants (TPP), when making decisions related to the choice of its macro location and micro location, disposition solution and equipment structure, the choice of the right decision method is of particular importance. Multi criteria analysis involves solving inadequately structured problems, while in practical terms it is a necessary tool in solving the day-to-day tasks of decision-making, management actions, both at the design level and the exploitation of complex energy and process systems. The development of new methods and the improvement of existing multi criteria analysis methods have influenced their increasing application in the field of energy, from both theoretical and practical aspects. A particular segment of the application of multi criteria analysis methods is to make strategic or operational decisions when solving multidisciplinary problems with predominantly technical or predominantly economic content, whether looking at a part or the energy system as a whole. The application of these methods in choosing the right solutions in the decision-making tasks of management in the design, maintenance and operation of thermal power plants is based on the development of information technology and computer technology. There are several methods in use today, of which the following should be emphasized: PROMETHEE (Preference Ranking Organization METHod of Enrichment Evaluation), AHP (Analytic Hierarchy Process), IKOR, ELECTRE (ELimination Et Choice Translating REality), MAX-MIN, MAX-MAX, Hurwicz (combination of max-max and max-min methods), SAW (Simple Additive Weighting Method), TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution), conjunctive method, disjunctive method, etc. Depending on the method used, the ranking of alternatives or criteria, the best alternative or criterion or set of alternatives or criteria that meet certain conditions is obtained as a solution. Problems that can be considered using multi-criteria decision-making have certain common characteristics: a large number of criteria that must be created by the decision maker, a high likelihood of conflict between the criteria, inseparable (different) units of measure (as a rule, each criterion has different units of measure), as well as design or the choice of optimal concepts in a predetermined space. Solutions are either designing the best alternative or choosing the best action from a set of predefined final actions. This paper provides a brief description of the more important methods, along with an analysis of their advantages and disadvantages, as well as the possibility of applying them to solve the specific problem of choosing a micro location for TPP. Starting from the application of the modified multi criteria method for determining the priorities between individual alternatives for ranking and selecting the optimal micro location within a certain macro location within a predetermined framework, in a decision situation involving a number of decision makers of different specialty, examples of micro location selection for new thermal power facilities of TPP Stanari are given, TPP Gacko 2 and TPP Ugljevik 3, with preliminary definition of elimination criteria and criteria for comparison of locations of given TPPs.