Stakeholders’ Perceptions of New Digital Energy Management Platform in Municipality of Loulé, Southern Portugal: A SWOT-AHP Analysis

David Gago, Paula Mendes, Pedro Murta, Nuno Cabrita and Margarida Ribau Teixeira
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David Gago: Loulé City Hall, Praça da República, 8104-001 Loulé, Portugal
Paula Mendes: Loulé City Hall, Praça da República, 8104-001 Loulé, Portugal
Pedro Murta: Loulé City Hall, Praça da República, 8104-001 Loulé, Portugal
Nuno Cabrita: Loulé City Hall, Praça da República, 8104-001 Loulé, Portugal
Margarida Ribau Teixeira: CENSE and Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139 Faro, Portugal

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 3, 1-25

Abstract: This study aimed to develop a multi-stakeholder analysis to identify the best strategies for the integration of a new Digital Energy Management Platform (DEMP). The municipality of Loulé (South of Portugal) was used as a case study. A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats (SWOT) framework combined with an Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) framework and a TOWS Matrix was employed to analyse the stakeholder’s perceptions to propose strategies for integrating the DEMP. Five focus stakeholder groups were involved. Results showed that stakeholders considered that the positive aspects of DEMP outweigh the negative aspects by approximately 36%. Strengths were ranked with 34.4%, Opportunities with 33.8%, Weaknesses with 20.2%, and Threats with 11.6%. The sequence of factors with the highest overall score by stakeholders was O1(12.7%) > S2(11.1%) > W2(7.4%) > T3(4.1%). Based on stakeholder perceptions, the most suitable strategies were those that use Strengths and Opportunities of the system (SO strategies), and strategies that take advantage of Opportunities while dealing with Weaknesses (WO strategies), achieving a prevalence compared with the other strategies of 34% and 27%, respectively. Therefore, the participation process involving stakeholders’ groups in the implementation and monitoring of the DEMP provided an action plan and consensus capable of meeting the environmental and municipal energy management challenges.

Keywords: energy management; public services; sustainability; SWOT-AHP-TOWS (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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