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This paper presents a new methodology for automated route selection for the construction of new power lines, based on geographic information systems (GIS). It uses a dynamic programming model for route optimization. Environmental restrictions are taken into account together with all of the operating, maintenance, and equipment installation costs, including a new approach to the costs associated with the slope of the terrain crossed by the power lines. The computing and visual representation capacities of GIS are exploited for the selection of economic corridors, keeping the total costs under a threshold imposed by the user. Intensive simulation examples illustrate the power and flexibility of the proposed methodology.

The integration in electric power networks of new renewable energy facilities is the final result of a complex planning process. One of the important objectives of this process is the selection of suitable geographical locations where such facilities can be built. This selection procedure can be a difficult task because of the initially opposing positions of the different agents involved in this procedure, such as, for example, investors, utilities, governmental agencies or social groups. The conflicting interest of the agents can delay or block the construction of new facilities. This paper presents a new decision support system, based on Geographic Information Systems, designed to overcome the problems posed by the agents and thus achieve a consensual selection of locations and overcome the problems deriving from their preliminary differing preferences. This paper presents the description of the decision support system, as well as the results obtained for two groups of agents useful for the selection of locations for the construction of new wind farms in La Rioja (Spain).

a b s t r a c tDespite the advantages that power plants based on renewable energies offer, there are some restrictions to the social acceptance of these facilities. One of these restrictions is the visual impact that large power plants may generate on people. This paper presents a new methodology for ranking the feasible places in a zone for the construction of new photovoltaic (PV) power plants according to their visibility. The methodology is based on the fuzzy viewshed and the distance decay methods, which enable to calculate the maximum number of hours in a mean day in which the new PV plant may be viewed by each possible observer. This number is related to the inhabitants in the zone, the size of the plant, the possible observers from paths and roads, and their distance to the PV plant. The proposed methodology is implemented in a Geographical Information System which allows the presentation of visual results that help to identify the best areas in the zone under study. This methodology can be useful to local authorities who have to authorize the installation of the new power plant, or investors who are trying to find the best locations from the point of view of visual impact.

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