IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/appene/v405y2026ics0306261925019385.html

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis framework: Transitioning from coal to Large-Scale Photovoltaics in Australia for achieving SDG 7

Author

Listed:
  • Bharadwaj. L, Mukund
  • Sankargupta, Rakshith
  • Madurai Elavarasan, Rajvikram
  • Devaraj, Elangovan
  • Nandagopal, Arun

Abstract

This study evaluates Australia's transition from coal-fired thermal plants to Large Scale Photovoltaic (LSPV) systems in its pursuit of Sustainable Development Goal 7 (SDG 7) targets using a Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) framework. MCDA is performed to study the repurposing potential of the country's major sources of electricity generation. As a primary step, seven major power plants that are scheduled for decommissioning before 2040, each with a capacity of more than 1000 MW were shortlisted as alternatives. The key factors influencing the transition were organized into five criteria and ten sub-criteria. The evaluation was performed using two weightage methods and seven Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) models. Following the MCDA process, sensitivity analysis was performed to evaluate the tolerance of the input weights. This investigation reveals the most optimal coal-fired power plant that can be considered for this transition. This study offers a replicable model and a comprehensive framework for energy planners and policy makers to evaluate location specific energy-transition scenarios by maximizing their available green energy potential.

Suggested Citation

  • Bharadwaj. L, Mukund & Sankargupta, Rakshith & Madurai Elavarasan, Rajvikram & Devaraj, Elangovan & Nandagopal, Arun, 2026. "Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis framework: Transitioning from coal to Large-Scale Photovoltaics in Australia for achieving SDG 7," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 405(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:405:y:2026:i:c:s0306261925019385
    DOI: 10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.127208
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306261925019385
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.apenergy.2025.127208?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Yücenur, G. Nilay & Çaylak, Şeyma & Gönül, Gözde & Postalcıoğlu, Melike, 2020. "An integrated solution with SWARA&COPRAS methods in renewable energy production: City selection for biogas facility," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 2587-2597.
    2. Jamal, Taskin & Urmee, Tania & Shafiullah, G.M., 2020. "Planning of off-grid power supply systems in remote areas using multi-criteria decision analysis," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    3. Ze, Fu & Wong, Wing-Keung & Alhasan, Tariq kamal & Al Shraah, Ata & Ali, Anis & Muda, Iskandar, 2023. "Economic development, natural resource utilization, GHG emissions and sustainable development: A case study of China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    4. Saraswat, S.K. & Digalwar, Abhijeet K., 2021. "Evaluation of energy alternatives for sustainable development of energy sector in India: An integrated Shannon’s entropy fuzzy multi-criteria decision approach," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 58-74.
    5. Smith, Sarah E. & Viggiano, Bianca & Ali, Naseem & Silverman, Timothy J & Obligado, Martín & Calaf, Marc & Cal, Raúl Bayoán, 2022. "Increased panel height enhances cooling for photovoltaic solar farms," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 325(C).
    6. Dong, Weiwei & Zhao, Guohua & Yüksel, Serhat & Dinçer, Hasan & Ubay, Gözde Gülseven, 2022. "A novel hybrid decision making approach for the strategic selection of wind energy projects," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 185(C), pages 321-337.
    7. Zhuang, Yuan & Zhou, Haiwei & Wang, Teng & Zhang, Lina & Cheng, Changgao, 2025. "Local and spillover effects of net-zero actions on SDG 7," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    8. Soto, Gonzalo H & Martinez-Cobas, Xavier, 2024. "Green energy policies and energy poverty in Europe: Assessing low carbon dependency and energy productivity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    9. Obuobi, Bright & Awuah, Faustina & Nketiah, Emmanuel & Adu-Gyamfi, Gibbson & Shi, Victor & Hu, Guoping, 2024. "The dynamics of green innovation, environmental policy and energy structure for environmental sustainability; Evidence from AfCFTA countries," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 197(C).
    10. Singh, Shweta & Upadhyay, Surya Prakash & Powar, Satvasheel, 2022. "Developing an integrated social, economic, environmental, and technical analysis model for sustainable development using hybrid multi-criteria decision making methods," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 308(C).
    11. Behzadian, Majid & Kazemzadeh, R.B. & Albadvi, A. & Aghdasi, M., 2010. "PROMETHEE: A comprehensive literature review on methodologies and applications," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 200(1), pages 198-215, January.
    12. Aridi, Rima & Aridi, Mona & Pannier, Marie-Lise & Lemenand, Thierry, 2025. "Eco-environmental, and social impacts of producing electricity with various renewable energy sources," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    13. Ali, Mohammed & Evans, Steve, 2025. "The impact of best practice on energy efficiency in industrial decarbonization policy," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 204(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mohamed Gouraizim & Abdelhadi Makan & Hossain Ouarghi, 2023. "A CAR-PROMETHEE-based multi-criteria decision-making framework for sustainability assessment of renewable energy technologies in Morocco," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 16(3), pages 1343-1358, September.
    2. İrem Pelit & İlker İbrahim Avşar, 2025. "Turkiye’s Carbon Emission Profile: A Global Analysis with the MEREC-PROMETHEE Hybrid Method," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-22, July.
    3. Corrente, Salvatore & Figueira, José Rui & Greco, Salvatore, 2014. "The SMAA-PROMETHEE method," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 239(2), pages 514-522.
    4. Thanh Quang Nguyen & Sonia Longo & Maurizio Cellura & Le Quyen Luu & Alessandra Bertoli & Letizia Bua, 2024. "Evaluating and Prioritizing Circular Supply Chain Alternatives in the Energy Context with a Holistic Multi-Indicator Decision Support System," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(20), pages 1-32, October.
    5. Wabukala, Benard M. & Bergland, Olvar & Mukisa, Nicholas & Adaramola, Muyiwa S. & Watundu, Susan & Orobia, Laura A. & Rudaheranwa, Nichodemus, 2024. "Electricity security in Uganda: Measurement and policy priorities," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Xu, Xiao-Yu & Peng, Jia-Hui & Wang, Ke-Liang & Zhang, Zhen-Hua, 2025. "Is energy aid a panacea for energy poverty? Evidence from developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 206(C).
    7. Dalal Aassouli & Ayodele Akande & Ray Jureidini, 2023. "Comparative Analysis of Sustainable Food Governance and the Alignment of Food Security Policies to Sustainable Development: A Case Study of OIC Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(22), pages 1-27, November.
    8. María Pilar de la Cruz López & Juan José Cartelle Barros & Alfredo del Caño Gochi & Manuel Lara Coira, 2021. "New Approach for Managing Sustainability in Projects," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(13), pages 1-27, June.
    9. Chen, Bangqi & Luan, Zhengxiao & He, Guanghua & He, Runhua & Liu, Chaogang, 2026. "Techno-economic assessment of wave energy converters arranged on an octagonal platform using multiple financial parameters," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 256(PA).
    10. Manuel Casal-Guisande & Alberto Comesaña-Campos & Alejandro Pereira & José-Benito Bouza-Rodríguez & Jorge Cerqueiro-Pequeño, 2022. "A Decision-Making Methodology Based on Expert Systems Applied to Machining Tools Condition Monitoring," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-30, February.
    11. Francis Marleau Donais & Irène Abi-Zeid & E. Owen D. Waygood & Roxane Lavoie, 2021. "A Framework for Post-Project Evaluation of Multicriteria Decision Aiding Processes from the Stakeholders’ Perspective: Design and Application," Group Decision and Negotiation, Springer, vol. 30(5), pages 1161-1191, October.
    12. Mahmut Baydaş & Orhan Emre Elma & Željko Stević, 2024. "Proposal of an innovative MCDA evaluation methodology: knowledge discovery through rank reversal, standard deviation, and relationship with stock return," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 10(1), pages 1-35, December.
    13. Anane, Makram & Bouziri, Lamia & Limam, Atef & Jellali, Salah, 2012. "Ranking suitable sites for irrigation with reclaimed water in the Nabeul-Hammamet region (Tunisia) using GIS and AHP-multicriteria decision analysis," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 36-46.
    14. Ronyastra, I Made & Saw, Lip Huat & Low, Foon Siang, 2023. "A review of methods for integrating risk management and multicriteria decision analysis in financial feasibility for post-coal-mining land usage selection," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 86(PB).
    15. Merad, Myriam & Dechy, Nicolas & Serir, Lisa & Grabisch, Michel & Marcel, Frédéric, 2013. "Using a multi-criteria decision aid methodology to implement sustainable development principles within an organization," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 224(3), pages 603-613.
    16. David Hidalgo-Carvajal & Ruth Carrasco-Gallego & Gustavo Morales-Alonso, 2021. "From Goods to Services and from Linear to Circular: The Role of Servitization’s Challenges and Drivers in the Shifting Process," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(8), pages 1-26, April.
    17. Zeki Ayağ, 2016. "An integrated approach to concept evaluation in a new product development," Journal of Intelligent Manufacturing, Springer, vol. 27(5), pages 991-1005, October.
    18. Wang, Yuelin & Xu, Bin, 2025. "Assessing the effective drivers of energy poverty reduction in China: A spatial perspective," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    19. Marcio Pereira Basilio & Valdecy Pereira & Fatih Yigit, 2023. "New Hybrid EC-Promethee Method with Multiple Iterations of Random Weight Ranges: Applied to the Choice of Policing Strategies," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-34, October.
    20. Jameel, Toqeer & Riaz, Muhammad & Aslam, Muhammad & Pamucar, Dragan, 2024. "Sustainable renewable energy systems with entropy based step-wise weight assessment ratio analysis and combined compromise solution," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 235(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:appene:v:405:y:2026:i:c:s0306261925019385. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/405891/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.