title: Use of multicriteria analysis (MCA) for sustainable hydropower planning and management.
abstract: Multicriteria analysis (MCA) is a decision-making tool applied to a wide range of environmental management problems, including renewable energy planning and management. An interesting field of application of MCA is the evaluation and analysis of the conflicting aspects of hydropower (HP) exploitation, affecting the three pillars of sustainability and involving several different stakeholders. The present study was aimed at reviewing the state of the art of MCA applications to sustainable hydropower production and related decision-making problems, based on a detailed analysis of the scientific papers published over the last 15 years on this topic. The papers were analysed and compared, focusing on the specific features of the MCA methods applied in the described case studies, highlighting the general aspects of the MCA application (purpose, spatial scale, software used, stakeholders, etc.) and the specific operational/technical features of the selected MCA technique (methodology, criteria, evaluation, approach, sensitivity, etc.). Some specific limitations of the analysed case studies were identified and a set of "quality indexes" of an exhaustive MCA application were suggested as potential improvements for more effectively support decision-making processes in sustainable HP planning and management problems.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy. Electronic address: erica.vassoney@polito.it.
authors.forename: Erica
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vassoney
authors.affiliation: ARPA Valle d'Aosta, Loc. Grande Charrière 44, 11020 Saint-Christophe, AO, Italy. Electronic address: a.mammolitimochet@arpa.vda.it.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mammoliti Mochet
authors.affiliation: Department of Environment, Land and Infrastructure Engineering, Politecnico di Torino, Corso Duca degli Abruzzi 24, 10129 Torino, Italy. Electronic address: claudio.comoglio@polito.it.
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Comoglio
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D059205:Renewable Energy
keywords: Decision-making process; Multicriteria analysis; Renewable energy; Stakeholders involvement; Sustainable hydropower; Water resources management