Multicriteria evaluation of power generation alternatives towards lignite phase-out: the case of Ptolemaida V

Abstract

Replacing existing lignite power plants with cleaner infrastructure serves as a complicated problem in the presence of economic, environmental, and societal crucial factors. In the present paper, we explore replacement options for the case of Ptolemaida V lignite power plant, Greece, which is planned to stop its operation by 2028 at the latest. In this context, we analyse four replacement technology alternatives: CO2 capture and storage, biomass, combined cycle gas turbine with fossil gas, and thermal energy storage coupled with renewable energy. Evaluation is based on an extended version of the VIKOR method, incorporating simultaneously uncertain data and incomplete criteria weights. Numerical results show a narrow advantage of thermal energy storage in most scenarios, while CO2 capture and storage, and lignite-biomass cooperation constitute rather inadequate solutions. Finally, we formulate a regret-oriented VIKOR-based decision support framework to cope with similar problems under the presence of scenario uncertainty.