Abstract:
Shift to complete dependence on alternative energy is part of almost every
developed country in near future. Developing countries need to follow suit and start
developing their energy portfolio towards green energy. Pakistan is among developing
countries currently fighting climate change and ongoing power crisis. With huge
untapped renewable energy potential and Government of Pakistan’s Alternative
Renewable Energy policy (ARE), it is high time to develop planning structure for
alternative energy.
This dissertation proposes a methodology for comprehensive exploitation of
potential available in a given country combining the use of Geographical Information
System (GIS) and Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). Analytical Hierarchy
Process (AHP) of MCDA allows ranking of criteria based on their relative importance to
considered scenario. A total of eight critical sub-criteria are considered for each scenario
from the core criteria (geography, climate and location). Two scenarios are presented
consisting of solar PV and wind energy utility scale farms establishment. A novel
scenario is also proposed for small scale solar PV implementation for far-off areas
potentially deprived of electricity access based on the locational criteria Application of
GIS allows manipulation of satellite driven data in form of criteria maps. Allocation of
priority weights to criteria maps, obtained from AHP, provides final suitability maps for
site selection. Restriction criteria were applied to narrow down high potential sites and
exclude areas with subpar importance to related scenario. To ensure exploitation of
resourceful areas, strict categorization of sub-criteria was considered in solar and wind
sites scenario resulting in fewer but higher potential sites and lenient classification in
case of small scale solar PV for far off areas, ensuring wide range of areas for
implementation purposes. The final suitability maps for each scenario with suitability
scale allows quantified illustration of sites with respect to their exploitable potential.
