Multi Criteria Decision Model for Risk Assessment of Transmission and Distribution Assets: A Hybrid Approach Using Analytical Hierarchy Process and Weighted Sum Method

This article describes how in order to prioritize the risks for a large number of assets, various criteria are used for ranking the asset risk. Since the criteria used for developing the risk rank is a mixture of quantitative and qualitative, a method was required to handle both the quantitative and qualitative criteria with varying scales that can be used for the electrical industry's assets. This article proposes a hybrid multi-criteria decision model (MCDM) that combines both weighted sum model (WSM) and analytical hierarchy process (AHP). The hybrid model is then applied to the strategic asset management plan for the electric power industry for ranking the assets risk. In this application, a large number of criteria reflecting asset conditions with their numerical values are available for which WSM method worked quite efficiently. The AHP method was applied to the criteria where qualitative criteria were available. Both methods were then synthesized, and the proposed hybrid method was formulated which resulted in a computationally efficient outcome with robust mathematical framework. The results show that the proposed method exhibited optimal results for the electric industry's asset where qualitative criteria are for AHP method was limited to 3 to 5. In the case of WSM, a larger number of quantitative criteria could be accommodated although for the application only six criteria were utilized.