An innovative method for offshore wind farm site selection based on the interval number with probability distribution

ABSTRACT

There is insufficient research relating to offshore wind farm site selection in China. The current methods for site selection have some defects. First, information loss is caused by two aspects: the implicit assumption that the probability distribution on the interval number is uniform; and ignoring the value of decision makers’ (DMs’) common opinion on the criteria information evaluation. Secondly, the difference in DMs’ utility function has failed to receive attention. An innovative method is proposed in this article to solve these drawbacks. First, a new form of interval number and its weighted operator are proposed to reflect the uncertainty and reduce information loss. Secondly, a new stochastic dominance degree is proposed to quantify the interval number with a probability distribution. Thirdly, a two-stage method integrating the weighted operator with stochastic dominance degree is proposed to evaluate the alternatives. Finally, a case from China proves the effectiveness of this method.

KEYWORDS:

• Offshore wind farm
• site selection
• interval number with probability distribution
• stochastic dominance degree

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This project was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China [grant number 71271085] and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [grant numbers 2015XS27 and 2015XS40].