A multiple criteria methodology for sustainable port location selection to support the emerging Brazilian offshore wind sector

This paper proposes a methodology for situations where strategic, large-scale, difficult to reverse decisions need to be made in the presence of multiple criteria and stakeholders. A novel nine-stage framework is proposed that contributes to the discrete multi-criteria paradigm by allowing a more holistic approach to the analysis of the underlying decision. This is achieved by introducing an underlying distance metric to allow for the consideration of balance between the criteria and a revised form of sensitivity analysis. The specific case study of the location of the offshore wind port in North-Eastern Brazil, a region that has good offshore wind potential but lacks sufficient infrastructure is developed. A hierarchical sustainability network of relevant infrastructural, socioeconomic, environmental, and physical characteristic criteria and sub-criteria is built by preferential elicitation from regional stakeholders. The proposed methodology is applied in order to analyze four potential port site locations in depth. The effect of the enhanced sensitivity analysis and consideration of balance between criteria is demonstrated by the results. The methodology is hence shown to lead to a more informed choice of port location. The paper concludes by drawing conclusions with respect to the use, limitations and potential further research development of the proposed methodology.