Sustainability evaluation framework for energy power plants in Sri Lanka

Abstract

Energy is essential for economic and social development of a country. Ever increasing energy demand forces public and private sector to install energy power plants without giving much attention to the sustainable issues. Existing power plants evaluation mechanisms were limited to few factors such as energy efficiency, economic aspects and quality of life. Therefore, the aim of this study is to develop a multidimensional framework to evaluate sustainability of energy power plants in Sri Lanka. A comprehensive literature review and a preliminary survey were carried out to identify sustainability criteria and indicators. The study identified eight sustainability criteria and 37 indicators. Eight criteria include economic aspects, technological aspects, air quality, water quality, waste management, health, safety and social issues, energy resource, and land, forest and wildlife issues. Structured interviews with industry practitioners were used to prioritise the criterion and indicators. Data was analysed using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) tool and the findings were used to develop a multidimensional framework to evaluate sustainability of energy power plants in Sri Lanka. Results obtained from the survey showed that, ‘economic aspects’ followed by ‘technological aspects’ and ‘air quality’ are the most important criteria and ‘land, forest and wildlife issues’ is the least important criteria among the eight sustainability criteria studied. Survey findings further revealed ‘availability of renewable energy resources’ followed by ‘plant process efficiency’ as the most critical sustainability indicators among the 37 indicators. This multidimensional framework can be used to evaluate the sustainability of energy power plants and also in the approval granting process for the power plant projects in Sri Lanka.