article · Energy Reports
Selecting the most suitable energy storage systems to support intermittent renewable energy requires balancing complex criteria, including technical, environmental, economic, and socio-political factors. A computational decision-making framework addresses this challenge by handling expert judgements and uncertainty using spherical fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and mixed aggregation techniques. The approach was tested through a case study in Egypt evaluating seven distinct energy storage options. The results reveal that technological characteristics represent the most influential dimension when choosing a sustainable system, whereas economic factors show the least influence. Among the assessed alternatives, pumped hydro storage emerged as the most appropriate technology for Egypt. Sensitivity and comparative analyses confirmed the flexibility and stability of the decision model across varying parameters and weighting scenarios, demonstrating a structured way to evaluate renewable energy storage options.
Integrating renewable energy into national grids requires effective storage to manage fluctuating generation. Choosing the right storage technology involves balancing competing priorities such as performance, cost, and environmental impact. This decision-making framework gives energy planners and policymakers an adaptable, evidence-based method to handle uncertainty and select optimal infrastructure solutions tailored to regional needs.
The framework functions as an applied decision-support tool tested in a regional case study, positioning it at an applied research stage rather than as a commercial product. It could be utilised by energy grid operators, infrastructure planners, and policy consultants to evaluate and prioritise grid-scale storage investments. Further development would be required to package the computational model into an accessible software platform for industry use.
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Incorporating energy storage systems (ESSs) can mitigate the intermittency of renewable energy sources. There are a variety of ESSs for renewable energy with vastly different characteristics. The problem of diversity of characteristics in selecting the most appropriate ESS can be approached as a multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) problem. This research evaluates sustainable ESSs through a case study in Egypt. A sustainable computational approach is presented through which experts can use verbal expressions to express their opinions in determining the priorities of the dimensions that affect the selection of ESSs. Determining the appropriate energy storage system requires consideration of several main dimensions such as the technology dimension, environmental dimension, economic dimension, and social-political dimension and, in addition to the sub-indicators. Hence, this research applies a hybrid MCDM approach that deals with different indicators and characteristics. Also, uncertainty in applying the proposed approach was dealt with by a spherical fuzzy (SF) environment and by using the spherical fuzzy numbers (SFNs). At first, the SF analytical hierarchy process (SF-AHP) method was used to assess the priorities of the four main dimensions and their sub-indicators. Then, the SF mixed aggregation by comprehensive normalization technique (SF-MACONT) was applied to evaluate and rank the ESSs selected for analysis through research. An illustrative case study was presented that included seven ESSs out of the eighteen systems listed in the research to confirm the feasibility of the developed approach. Sensitivity analysis was carried out by changing some parameters like λ, μ, δ, and ϑ based on the SF-MACONT method and changing the weights of some main dimensions. A comparative analysis with some MCDM approaches was conducted to show the advantages of the developed approach through its flexibility and built-in parameters. The findings show that the technology dimension is the most influential in choosing a sustainable ESS, while the economic dimension is the least influential. Also, the results of the evaluation and ranking of the seven selected ESSs indicate that the "Pumped Hydro" system is the most suitable system for energy storage in Egypt.
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DOI: 10.1016/j.egyr.2023.12.058
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