Often in the early stages of planning a major development it is necessary to consider a large number of alternative individual projects and alternative sequences of projects. The main problem at this stage is to screen out the less desirable projects quickly so that only a manageable number of the more promising ones remain for detailed study. A number of simple techniques are presented which can be used to assist the screening process. These include a method for finding the sequence of projects which will meet one or more projected demands at minimum discounted cost, and making a sensitivity test of the results; a method for finding the sequence of projects which would yield the maximum present value of benefits; and a way of finding the optimal planning horizon for facilities where there are economies of scale. A comparison is given between results obtained by the sequencing technique presented and results from a more rigorous but more elaborate and time consuming method for the case of multiple demands.