Risk assessment of hydropower stations through an integrated fuzzy entropy-weight multiple criteria decision making method: A case study of the Xiangxi River

• An integrated fuzzy entropy-weight MCDA method is proposed.
• It is firstly applied to risk assessment of hydraulic projects in the Xiangxi River.
• It avoids subjective effects on the weights.
• The comprehensive risk levels of hydropower stations are ranked.

An integrated fuzzy entropy-weight multiple criteria decision making (IFEMCDM) method was proposed and applied to risk assessment of hydropower stations in the Xiangxi River. The IFEMCDM integrates the fuzzy set theory, the entropy weight method and the multiple criteria decision making method within a risk assessment framework. It can quantify uncertainties presented in fuzzy sets and assess multi-criteria decision problems in a more objective manner through avoiding subjective effects on the weights. The detailed computational procedures were provided to illustrate the integration process of the above methods. The performance of IFEMCDM was analyzed in terms of relative closeness and α-cut levels. The comprehensive assessment results demonstrated that, all of the ten hydropower stations can be divided into four degree ranges in accordance with the relative closeness. Most of the hydropower stations along the Gaolan River and the Gufu River would have lower risk. Decision makers can conduct flexible and variable response programs for the ten hydropower stations under different α-cut levels. The application of the IFEMCDM revealed its superiority in solving complicated multi-criteria assessment problems more objectively under fuzzy uncertainty. This study was the first application of the IFEMCDM model to risk assessment of hydropower stations, which indicated that it can also be applied to other environmental problems under uncertainties.