Techno-Economic and Environmental Assessment of a Hybrid Renewable Energy System for a Hospital Using Multi-Criteria Decision-Making Method

Abstract

Implementing hybrid renewable energy systems in hospitals, as an applicable solution to improve the sustainability of power systems, was studied. Several hybrid renewable configurations with detailed technical and economic information were proposed by HOMER Pro software, and the most cost-effective system was introduced as a combination of PV (350 kW), WT (1 unit, 25 kW), and DG (700 kW), with a total net present cost of USD 3.25 million and cost of energy of USD 0.0543/kWh. To consider all aspects of sustainability for choosing the optimal system, a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making approach, considering technical, environmental, economic, and energy security criteria, was applied using the TOPSIS method. According to ISO 21929, the weighting of the criteria was performed depending on how indicators affected the key areas of protection. By using the TOPSIS technique, a system with a larger renewable proportion, more variety, and less reliance on diesel was chosen. Thus, the optimal choice for this process was the configuration of PV (350 kW)/WT (1 unit, 25 kW)/DG (600 kW)/Bat (100 kWh). Comparing the results of economic optimization with MCDM optimization shows that the COE increased by approximately USD 0.025/kWh in the MCDM approach, while a decline of more than 27% in environmental impacts, as well as reduced reliance on conventional resources, were achieved.