Prioritization of renewable energy resources based on sustainable management approach using simultaneous evaluation of criteria and alternatives: A case study on Iran's electricity industry

Abstract Nowadays, an increase in energy demand, environmental concerns, and the shortage of fossil fuel resources have made energy management researchers explore alternative resources for clean and renewable energy resources. The simultaneous incorporation of a comprehensive set of technical, economic, environmental, and social attributes in decision-making processes is recommended to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of sustainable decisions on energy resource planning. To tackle this challenge, an efficient method is proposed based on the Simultaneous Evaluation of Criteria and Alternatives (SECA) for the optimal selection of renewable energy resources. In the SECA technique, criteria and alternative evaluations are performed simultaneously. The proposed assessment framework is applied in Iran's electricity industry as a real case study, and a two-round fuzzy-based Delphi technique is also adopted to extract the assessment criteria from the experts' opinions. Moreover, the management insights are inferred from sensitivity analysis. According to the study results, solar, wind, biomass, hydroelectric, hydrogen, geothermal, and marine energy resources are sorted in descending order of priority. Finally, the best composite option of sustainable energies encompassing a combination of solar, wind, and biomass energy resources concludes the study.