RETRACTED: Prioritization of renewable energy resources in five climate zones in Iran using AHP, hybrid AHP-TOPSIS and AHP-SAW methods (Retracted article. See vol. 52, 2022)

Owing to the serious concerns about fossil fuels and increasingly share of renewables in electricity generation, researchers are seeking promising solutions to develop the role of advanced renewable energy technologies in total power supply. Considering multi-criteria decision analysis, this work concentrates on the raking of renewable resources in five climate zones in Iran employing AHP, TOPSIS and SAW methods. In this study, five climate zones of Iran are divided into 'temperate and humid summer, mild winter', 'hot and dry summers, very cold winter', 'very humid and hot summer, mild winter', 'very humid and hot summer without winter' and 'hot and dry summer, cold winter'. For the purpose of raking, solar, geothermal, hydropower, biomass, marine, wind and gravitational energies are considered as the main renewable resources. The alternatives are prioritized from the technical, economic, energy security and social points of view using different sub-criteria. The indicator weights are achieved through a survey of 100 academics and industrial experts whose research interests are energy and environmental science. Based on the results, economic criterion is found to be the most effective criterion. Furthermore, in all of the climate zones in Iran, solar energy and marine energy have the highest and lowest priorities, respectively.