Composite decision-making algorithms for optimisation of hybrid renewable energy systems: Port of Takoradi as a case study

Ghana’s prevailing power issues have incited the government’s interest in integrating renewable energy sources into the country’s present energy mix for sustainable energy supply and to minimise carbon emissions. Hybridising renewable energy resources has recently gained attention due to the intermittent nature of some resources. The objective of this study is to rank the performance of ten hybrid renewable energy systems (HRES) for sustainable port operations in Ghana using multicriteria decision-making algorithms. All chosen criteria for decision-making analysis emanate from technical, economic, environmental, socio-cultural, and policy pillars extensively employed in evaluating new technologies towards sustainability. Fifteen unique decision-making algorithms were tested on the decision matrix to rank the HRES. After that, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient was applied to validate the ranks obtained from the algorithms to make the final selection. The final rankings indicated that PV/wind/battery/natural gas is the optimal HRES for Takoradi port compared to the other HRES. This indicates that extensive investment in PV/wind/battery/natural gas systems has a reasonable potential to achieve sustainable energy for the Ghanaian industrial sector. The findings are vital for decision-makers, policymakers, and investors in developing Ghana’s renewable energy sector.