Decision Support System for Sustainability Assessment of Power Generation Technologies - Efficient Decision Support Systems: Practice and Challenges from Current to Future - page 529

Qualitative criteria:
 the subsystem describing the impact of macrolevel factors;
 the subsystem describing the impact of mesolevel factors;
 the subsystem describing the impact of microlevel factors.
Quantitative criteria:
 the subsystem describing the technical data;
 the subsystem describing the economic data;
 the subsystem describing the preliminary value.
The integrated method for the measurement of weights is used when the objects may be
assessed using a sufficient pool of relevant quantitative criteria. A system of quantitative
criteria includes economic, technical, or other criteria that describe the objects. Energy
production technologies may be described by the rated capacity of the objects, the volume of
energy production, the cost of energy production, profitability, number of users, book value
or replacement value of the technological facilities and assets, etc.
Qualitative criteria that describe the impact of the environment are by no means less
important than the quantitative criteria. The choice of qualitative criteria depends on the
goals of the task; such criteria may describe the economic context and priorities, as well as
attitudes and expectations of a range of social groups. Expert methods are used to identify
the weights of qualitative criteria. When the integrated method is used to identify the
weights of qualitative criteria, quantitative and qualitative features are considered.
4.2.2 Identifying values and weights of criteria
1. Expert assessment of energy production technologies (companies). The objects of the Lithuanian
energy sector selected for the multiple criteria analysis problem to be handled with the
COPRAS method produce energy using different technologies, and different primary
energy sources. The objects are:
 Kruonis Pumped-storage Hydroelectric Power Plant - uses a combination of technologies
based on renewable sources and traditional technologies;
 Kaunas Hydroelectric Power Plant - uses only technologies based on renewable sources;
 The Lithuanian Power Plant - uses traditional technologies (fuel oil and natural gas as the
primary energy sources). Closing of Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant made this power
plant the main electricity producer in Lithuania.
 Experimental geothermal power plant - uses a combination of technologies based on
renewable sources and traditional technologies.
A questionnaire was compiled as a tool to analyse and determine the weights for qualitative
criteria of the selected technological facilities of energy production. The questionnaire was
compiled making it suitable for assessment of the main qualitative criteria defining the
selected technological facilities of energy production. The questionnaires were filled in by
groups of experts representing diverse social groups with different interests. The questionnaire
was divided into three subsystems, each dealing with the effect either of macro, meso or micro
qualitative factors. The subsystems include the criteria that describe the environment of the
objects in question. Conditional measures—scores between 1 and 10—determine the criteria
weights. Experts attributed bigger weights to the criteria they considered more important and
such criteria had bigger impact on the final results of the assessment. The average estimates for
each criterion determined on the basis of the results of expert assessment, and the resulting
weights of the criteria, were identified for each group of experts.