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Water and energy sustainability are major concerns of the world's nations at present. This research introduces a geographical decision-making model for strategically selecting optimal locations for seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plants (SWRODPs). Furthermore, it assesses the best electrification approach, considering onshore wind turbine (WT) or solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants. A representative case-study of the Egyptian Red Sea Coast Region (ERSCR) is considered to validate the proposed model. The study delineates nineteen assessment criteria for building an informed selection of SWRODPs' potential locations. Seven experts with at least ten years of expertise in desalination and renewable technologies were selected to obtain accurate assessment criteria that imitate the real-life selection process. The group best-worth method (GBWM) was employed to ascertain optimal weights for the geospatial model criteria. The findings indicate that a mere 6.11 % of the total land area is deemed suitable, with the remaining 93.89 % classified as restricted. The suitable area is divided into different suitability classes in which about 65.85 % of the suitable area is found good for establishing the SWRODPs, while about 23.65 % of suitable land is found of moderate suitability. Besides, about 9.21 % and 0.03 % of suitable lands are considered very good and excellent suitability for implementing SWRODPs' projects. Moreover, the analysis pinpointed 8 % of the ERSCR (∼12,810 km2) as a highly suitable area for PV installation, predominantly within Qusir, Ras Sidr, Hurghada, and Ataqa districts. Concurrently, a scant 0.15 % (∼244 km2) is optimal for WT in the Qusir district. Further, the results offer proposals to the authorities and energy investors with about 50,200 km2 and 39,858 km2 of the ERSCR suitable for establishing SWRODPs powered by PV and WT, respectively. Overall, the research findings are anticipated to bolster the UN's sustainable development goals 6 and 7 and align with Egypt's Vision 2030. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water and energy sustainability are major concerns of the world's nations at present. This research introduces a geographical decision-making model for strategically selecting optimal locations for seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plants (SWRODPs). Furthermore, it assesses the best electrification approach, considering onshore wind turbine (WT) or solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants. A representative case-study of the Egyptian Red Sea Coast Region (ERSCR) is considered to validate the proposed model. The study delineates nineteen assessment criteria for building an informed selection of SWRODPs' potential locations. Seven experts with at least ten years of expertise in desalination and renewable technologies were selected to obtain accurate assessment criteria that imitate the real-life selection process. The group best-worth method (GBWM) was employed to ascertain optimal weights for the geospatial model criteria. The findings indicate that a mere 6.11 % of the total land area is deemed suitable, with the remaining 93.89 % classified as restricted. The suitable area is divided into different suitability classes in which about 65.85 % of the suitable area is found good for establishing the SWRODPs, while about 23.65 % of suitable land is found of moderate suitability. Besides, about 9.21 % and 0.03 % of suitable lands are considered very good and excellent suitability for implementing SWRODPs' projects. Moreover, the analysis pinpointed 8 % of the ERSCR (∼12,810 km2) as a highly suitable area for PV installation, predominantly within Qusir, Ras Sidr, Hurghada, and Ataqa districts. Concurrently, a scant 0.15 % (∼244 km2) is optimal for WT in the Qusir district. Further, the results offer proposals to the authorities and energy investors with about 50,200 km2 and 39,858 km2 of the ERSCR suitable for establishing SWRODPs powered by PV and WT, respectively. Overall, the research findings are anticipated to bolster the UN's sustainable development goals 6 and 7 and align with Egypt's Vision 2030. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Worldwide, the emerging trend of hybrid renewable energy sources integration in modern power systems is increasing due to privileged prices and clean electricity supply. However, the optimal planning of rural hybrid systems is a challenging and complex task, especially when different alternatives and sustainability aspects are considered. This paper develops an integrated decision-making approach for the optimal planning of a 100% renewable energy supply system comprising solar, wind, hydro, and biomass sources in a rural area located in Pakistan. An hourly-based design optimization analysis of twelve on/off-grid electrification alternatives is performed. The optimization model simultaneously addresses five sustainability criteria related to economy, reliability, ecology, society, and topography aspects. Furthermore, a novel hybrid decision-making model has developed to identify the unique best configuration with on-grid and off-grid options. The proposed model combines fuzzy analytic hierarchy process, multi-objective optimization based on ratio analysis technique for order of preference by similarity to an ideal solution, and evaluation based on distance from average solution methods. The results reveal that the solar-hydro-biomass battery with a life cycle cost of 10.9 M$ is the top-ranking off-grid system. When the hybrid system is connected to the grid, the solar-hydro-battery has found the most appropriate design with a life cycle cost of 12.96 M$. Both scenarios have a negligible capacity shortage of 0.09%. Ecologically, the optimal off-grid system produces only 408.37 kg/yr of CO 2 due to the significant energy share of solar and hydro sources (99.3%). The optimal on-grid system produced the minimum CO 2 with 29,177.89 kg/yr compared to other alternatives. Also, employing the optimal on/off-grid designs require land area and jobs of 96.6 m2, 14 jobs, and 118 m2, 15 jobs, respectively. Overall, the developed approach with the presented case study offers a valuable benchmark and guidelines for investors and stakeholders to create realistic investment plans for the energy industry looking to push efficient inducements to encourage the high dissemination of renewables. [Display omitted] • 100% renewable energy system is established for on/off grid rural electrification. • Twelve distinctive solar/wind/hydro/biomass-based hybrid energy alternatives are optimized. • An integrated fuzzy-AHP/TOPSIS/EDAS/MOORA decision-making model is proposed. • Cost, reliability, emission, social, and topographical criteria are simultaneously considered. • Results prove the long-term sustainability of 100% renewable in rural Pakistan. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]