Technical versus socio-economic and environmental criteria in power transmission projects

In recent years, the efforts of countries to reach agreements on the development of cross-border electricity interconnection have intensified because they optimize energy resources and constitute the most significant instantaneous support for the security and continuity of electricity supply. In addition, interconnections play a key role in the integration of electricity markets. However, the planning of European electricity infrastructures constitutes complex analyses due to the large number of factors involved. This article applies a multicriteria methodology for the evaluation and prioritization of cross-border interconnection projects with the simulation of different scenarios, in total 12 scenarios, to study the effect of changes in the selected criteria on the results obtained. To test the defined methodology, the variation in the weight of different criteria in the assessment of a new cross-border electrical interconnection project between Spain and France is studied. It was verified that the tool is coherent and that the analysis developed improves the understanding of such large and complex projects and can facilitate the prioritization of project portfolios with a clear and explicit method.