A comparison of two MCDM methodologies in the selection of a windfarm location in Catalonia

A case study in a social multi-criteria evaluation framework for selecting a windfarm location in the regions of Urgell and La Conca de Barberà in Catalonia is presented. Two different MCDM approaches are introduced and compared through their application to the mentioned case. On the one hand, a Qualitative TOPSIS methodology able to address uncertainty and, able to deal with different levels of precision is considered. On the other hand, we consider the results obtained by a non-compensatory outranking MCDM method. Both approaches are analyzed and their performance in the selection of a windfarm location is compared. Although results show that both methods conduct to similar alternatives rankings, the study highlights both their advantages and drawbacks.