Comparison of approaches in the construction of an efficiency indicator for electricity generators in transmission systems: DEA-IC and Unweighted TOPSIS

Abstract

The In the state of the art, various methods are used to define the responsibility of generating agents in the use of electricity transmission networks. This seeks to assign transmission network costs, in the form of transmission tolls or access costs to transmission networks. However, such mechanisms do not explicitly consider the efficiency that generating units exhibit according to the different criteria under which they operate, linked to economic, energy, and environmental sustainability. A composite efficiency indicator conceived in this way, can reflect incentives based on the renewability of the primary energy sources used, energy efficiency, CO2 equivalent gas emissions, and the optimization of investments in the installation of each power plant. This paper compares two approaches to constructing such a composite indicator, considering five criteria— as simple indicators—for the sake of the desired sustainability: the DEA-IC model and the TOPSIS Unweighted method. The relevant theoretical developments and their applications are presented, evaluating the sensitivity and robustness of the composite indicator obtained, and discussing the results for consideration as efficiency factors in a system with 22 generating units.