Selecting Sites for Coal-Fired Power Plants

Methods that have been used to select sites for coal-fired power plants are reviewed. A specific site selection procedure is presented that has been successfully applied in a number of cases. This procedure addresses the challenging features of site selection, including multiple evaluation concerns, significant uncertainties, multiple interest groups, data limitations, and regulatory requirements. Screening criteria and expert judgment are utilized to determine candidate sites within a large study area. These candidate sites are then evaluated using multiobjective decision analysis methods to select preferred and alternate sites for the power plant. With this approach, evaluation measures are determined and a multiattribute utility function assessed over these which reflects tradeoffs among the evaluation measures and attitude toward risktaking. Levels are assessed for each evaluation measure for the candidate sites, including use of probabilities to indicate uncertainties. An illustrative application is presented to show how the site selection procedure is carried out.