Multi-objective optimization for sustainable development of the power sector: An economic, environmental, and social analysis of Iran

Mohammad Saeid Atabaki and Vahid Aryanpur

Energy, 2018, vol. 161, issue C, 493-507

Abstract: This paper aims to analyze Iran's long-term power sector development from economic, environmental, social, and sustainable perspectives. For this purpose, a linear programming model is developed, which includes three objective functions: minimization of costs, minimization of CO2 emissions, and maximization of created jobs. To provide a sustainable plan, analytical hierarchy process is employed to allocate expert-based weights to the objective functions. Moreover, to support the decision-makers, Pareto-optimal alternatives are explored by varying the weights of objectives. The multi-objective model is solved by applying a weighted method based on fuzzy membership functions. The results show that a sustainable scenario leads to high technology diversification. Furthermore, the combined cycle would be the dominant option in Iran's long-term generation mix. In addition, power generation from non-hydro renewables, solar PV in particular, should grow faster than the total electricity demand. The findings indicate that the economic scenario fulfills Iran's commitment to 4% reduction of emissions compared to the current trend; however, the sustainable and environmental scenarios would cause achievement of the superior 12% reduction goal. Multi-objective analysis shows that moving away from one's objective optimum value leads to significant improvements in other objective values.

Keywords: Multi-objective linear programming; Sustainable development; Power system planning; CO2 emissions; Job creation; Renewable energy sources (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S036054421831449X
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:energy:v:161:y:2018:i:c:p:493-507

DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2018.07.149

Access Statistics for this article

Energy is currently edited by Henrik Lund and Mark J. Kaiser

More articles in Energy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().