The Role of Solar Power Generation in Energy Security: Case of Ahwaz County

Although the environmental impacts of renewable energies have been broadly investigated, their importance in ensuring energy security has received less attention. This study has investigated the potential of solar electricity generation Ahwaz county, from the energy security point of view. The land erea of Ahwaz county were prioritized based on the geographical, environmental and human factors using fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making and GIS. The results show that the solar energy in Ahwaz county has a great impact on enhancing energy security and has more flexibility regarding natural and human threats. Using only 3.3 percent of lands in the area, it is possible to generate as much electricity as needed in Khuzestan province. Thereby, it is possible to decentralize power generation, which in turn leads to increase the security of energy supply. This amount of solar electricity generation can contribute to reduce the emissions by about 109000 tons per year