Prioritizing renewable energy development criteria in Indonesia using Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) for Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Indonesia’s rising energy demand and continued reliance on coal highlight the need for a structured pathway to expand renewable energy in line with national targets and the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This study examines the relative importance of key criteria affecting renewable energy development in Indonesia using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Expert judgments were collected through an online questionnaire and synthesized using pairwise comparisons to derive weights for criteria and sub-criteria. A total of 53 renewable energy experts, including policymakers, industry representatives, researchers, and non-governmental organization (NGO) members, participated in the study. The findings show that environmental and economic dimensions are the most influential criteria, with land-use conflicts, environmental impacts, and inadequate waste management emerging as the most critical environmental concerns. This study contributes by establishing SDGs-aligned decision-making foundation that integrates expert insight with transparent weighting to guide policy design to accelerate Indonesia’s renewable energy transition.