A comprehensive methodology for optimal planning of remote integrated energy systems

Rational planning for remote integrated energy systems is of great importance for demand guarantee and sustainable development of remote areas. A critical challenge is that comprehensive factors, e.g., technical, economic, environmental, and social, which are inherently intertwined, should be properly evaluated and balanced in terms of social benefits. In addition, the feasibility of each planning scheme can only be verified based on their local electrical conditions by employing multi-energy flow calculations. Thus, this paper develops a comprehensive methodology for the optimal planning of remote integrated energy systems taking into account the uncertainty of renewable energy, where a multi-criteria decision-making procedure is designed, including the candidate set construction, remote integrated energy systems modeling, multi-energy flow calculation of the candidates, index definition and selection, and the optimal scheme determination. The methodology is applied to a case study in Lankao County, China. The optimal scheme, selected by the proposed multi-criteria decision-making procedure from 432 candidates, shows the best comprehensive performance, which is verified by different ranking methods. The optimal scheme can rank in the top 13% of each aspect on average, with economic and environmental aspects ranking in the top 2%. The methodology can help decision-makers find reasonable solutions for energy system planning in remote areas.