Economy-environment-energy performance evaluation of CCHP microgrid system: A hybrid multi-criteria decision-making method

The combined cooling, heating and power micro-grid (CCHP-MG) system has significant economy-environment-energy (3E) characteristics, making it valuable to evaluating its 3E performance in promoting the 3E coordinated development. Based on the energy supply structure of CCHP-MG system, this paper constructs a 3E performance evaluation index system for the CCHP-MG system from economy, environment and energy dimensions. Then, a hybrid multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework is designed, involving integrated weighting method based on anti-entropy weight method and grey decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (grey-DEMATEL), and improved technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) with difference and quotient grey relation analysis (DQGRA). 8 building-typed CCHP-MG systems are taken as examples for analysis. The results show that the benefits of system energy supply, equivalent emission reduction of pollutants, energy utilization and equivalent energy saving are important manifestations of CCHP-MG's 3E performance, and raising energy supply scale and renewable energy proportion are the key ways to improve CCHP-MG's 3E performance. Comparing with 4 other MCDM models, the proposed hybrid MCDM model has good applicability and effectiveness for the 3E performance evaluation of CCHP-MG system, but it is necessary to carry out targeted adjustment when applying it to other MCDM issues. • CCHP-MG system presents significant economy-environment-energy performance. • A hybrid MCDM framework of AEW-grey-DEMATEL and DQGRA-TOPSIS is designed. • Model's applicability and effectiveness are verified theoretically and empirically. • Energy supply, pollutant reduction and energy saving embody the 3E performance. • Raising energy supply scale and renewable energy proportion contribute to 3E benefit.