A Comprehensive Evaluation Method for the Operational Performance of Offshore Wind Farms Based on BWM-MEREC Hybrid Weighting

Abstract

: The operational performance evaluation of offshore wind farms is highly complex, jointly shaped by harsh marine conditions, equipment reliability, and evolving electricity market mechanisms. Existing frameworks are mostly designed for onshore wind or overseas markets and rarely incorporate China’s latest market-oriented electricity trading policies. To address these gaps, this paper proposes a comprehensive evaluation method that integrates the Best–Worst Method (BWM) and the Method based on the Removal Effects of Criteria (MEREC) through game theory. A 30-sub-indicator system across seven dimensions—resource endowment, power generation capacity, power generation loss, reliability, accessibility, operation and maintenance (O&M) capability, and economic viability—is established to reflect both the offshore environment and the New Electricity Trading Mechanism. BWM quantifies expert preferences with a reduced comparison load, MEREC captures intrinsic data characteristics, and game theory yields balanced combined weights. A hierarchical scoring model then produces 0–100 absolute scores that are independent of the evaluated set, enabling longitudinal KPI tracking. The framework is validated on four Chinese offshore wind farms using 2024 Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) data, with all BWM consistency ratios within 0–0.09. Results show Farm D ranks first with a comprehensive score of 86.0, followed by Farm B (76.9), Farm C (75.7), and Farm A (71.7). A 222-scenario weight perturbation analysis ( ± 10% to ± 30%) confirms that the ranking is robust against weight uncertainty. The framework provides engineering-oriented decision support for power enterprises and investors under the post-2025 New Electricity Trading Mechanism.