Multi-Criteria Decision Support Methods for Renewable Energy Systems on Islands

Abstract

Islands often are confronted with severe energy challenges especially those far from the main land which operate as isolated energy systems. In those cases electricity, the queen of the energy vectors shall be obtained from diversified sources to alleviate the burden of the dependence on fossil fuels. Thereby, the generation of electricity from renewable energy sources in combination with electricity storage becomes an irrecusably challenge in the nearby future. Often a variety of criteria can be applied to identify the suitability of technologies, whereas no ideal family of criteria has been defined in the literature. Hence, decision support for energy planning and management is required. This paper reviews the state-of-the-art of multi-criteria decision support methods applied to renewable energy and storage technologies. It will be analyzed where the current focus is placed on. The gaps of those analyzed studies will be evaluated and key aspects for future energy planning considerations for islands will be proposed. Finally, an outlook for a newly developed concept for island energy planning will be presented. Indeed, for most isolated islands renewable energy technologies in combination with storage devices are a desirable and valued solution for sustainable development.