Designing sustainable energy regions using genetic algorithms and location-allocation approach

Geographical areas have diverse green energy resources and different levels of energy consumptions. An important challenge to satisfy the energy demand using green energy resources is to balance energy supply and demand. Territory design deals with the problem of grouping geographic areas into larger geographic clusters called territories in such a way that the grouping is acceptable according to a planning criterion. The aim of this study is to group geographic areas so that energy requirement in a geographic cluster matches the available green energy potential in the same cluster. In this way, investments may be supported through region specific policies. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model. A location-allocation approach is employed to solve the model. The location and allocation problems are solved iteratively. In order to solve the initial location problem, a Genetic Algorithm is developed to find the results of the p-median problem. Then, the allocation problem is solved optimally using the ILOG Cplex solver. The territory design problem is solved for Turkey and the results of various numbers of territories are compared. Among those trials, 10 territories result in the best balance of demand and supply. •We aim to group geographic areas with respect to green energy potentials.•Problem is formalized as a mixed-integer linear programming model.•The problem is solved using genetic algorithm and ILOG Cplex solver.•The territory design problem is solved in Turkey for different numbers of territories.•The results indicate that 10 territories provide best balance of demand and supply.