Prioritize Renewable Energy Resources in Main Iranian Ports Area Using AHP Method

The use of renewable energies is inevitable due to the limitations of fossil fuels, pollution, and the global increase in energy consumption. Renewable energies are various, so selection and investment in the best option in each region are complicated and depend on multiple parameters. For this reason, this study has used Analytical Hierarchal Process (AHP) to prioritize renewable energy sources in Iran's main ports (located in the Caspian Sea, Oman sea, and the Persian Gulf). The AHP is among the most widely used methods in multi-criteria decision-making in many fields and can include different and contradictory criteria. Renewable energies, including solar, wind, wave, and current, have been analyzed in the main ports' area (5 km radius in sea and port hinterland). The results show solar (photovoltaic) and wave energies are the first and second priorities in all southern ports except Imam Khomeini Port. Imam Khomeini Port is the only port where the current energy is unignorable. In the northern ports, wind energy is the primary option for investment. Wave energy can be exploited only in the Shahid Beheshti Port of Chabahar, located on the Oman Sea shores and directly connected to the open sea. In the ports of Khuzestan province, the photovoltaic power potential is lower than in other southern ports despite the very high solar direct normal irradiation.