Exploring the challenges in developing a multi-criteria assessment for smart local energy systems

Several countries worldwide, including the United Kingdom, are investing in and introducing policies to foster the development and deployment of Smart Local Energy Systems. Smart Local Energy Systems are complex and socio-technical, with a wide range of stakeholders and multiple social, technical, environmental and economic aims. It is, therefore, essential to develop a standardised assessment tool to monitor the implementation of these systems and their social, technological, environmental and economic benefits and impacts. This paper presents work related to developing such a multi-criteria assessment tool, focusing on exploring and identifying the challenges of applying multi-criteria assessment to the development and deployment of Smart Local Energy Systems. The research involved semi-structured interviews with relevant expert stakeholders concerning six core assessment themes, corresponding sub-themes, and associated criteria/metrics. The results provide insights into the challenges of applying multi-criteria assessment to Smart Local Energy Systems and highlight the complex nature of these systems. Furthermore, stakeholder burnout (due to too many stakeholder engagement activities), data collection issues, and the broad definition and/or limited scope of assessment criteria were identified as the principal challenges faced in developing such an assessment tool, potentially affecting the reliability of its outputs.