A mixed integer multi-objective model for distributed energy resources planning

The current study proposes a mixed-integer multi-objective model to address a novel energy planning problem. The purpose of the model is to find the optimum plan for satisfying the electricity demand of a network of areas, each area with a known demand. The model aims to satisfy the total network demand by either expanding the capacity of the existing power plants feeding by the conventional fossil fuels or constructing new facilities which apply distributed generation (DG) technologies, or the combination of these two strategies. There are several candidate locations for building new generating units each of which has the necessary potentials to apply one or more DG technologies such as wind turbines or photovoltaic systems in order to locally generate electricity. Optimal selection of the locations for building new facilities is one of the main features of the proposed model which has not been addressed in many of previous related studies. Two conflicting objectives, i.e., minimizing of the total cost and total CO₂ emission are taken into account. An effective solution method i.e., the augmented ε-constraint method is applied to find the efficient compromise solutions. A numerical example is also provided to show the applicability and usefulness of the proposed mathematical model and solution approach.