Multidimensional comparative analysis as a tool for assessing the level of development of energy markets in selected European countries

The most important factor affecting the economic development of societies is access to electricity at an acceptable price. The constantly developing economy generates an increasing demand for electricity. The energy resources used for energy production are diverse in the European Union countries, hence the assessment of the level of development of energy markets is a multidimensional problem. This article undertakes comparative studies on determining the level of sustainable development of energy markets in selected Member States. Sustainable development of energy markets is a phenomenon characterized by many variables that simultaneously concern various aspects including environmental, economic, technical and technological and social problems, which means that sustainable development can be described by many different variables, the number of which can reach up to several dozen. In this case, comparative analysis using traditional methods becomes impossible. The multidimensional analysis method was used to classify countries into homogeneous clusters in terms of the level of development of energy markets. Multidimensional comparative analysis, or MCA for short, deals with methods and techniques for comparing multi-feature objects. MCA is a formally coherent set of statistical methods for purposeful selection of information about elements of a certain community and detection of regularities in the mutual relations of these elements. MCA is an interdisciplinary method that uses achievements and methods used in other fields. Multivariate comparative analysis is a method in which the analysis is performed in many stages and in many directions. Research results indicate the position of the energy market development in Poland in comparison to selected Member States