Multi-objective decision-making and optimal sizing of a hybrid renewable energy system to meet the dynamic energy demands of a wastewater treatment plant

Abstract Renewable energy resources have become important to strategies for meeting industrial demands for power due to their various benefits when coupled with government incentives and public support. To obtain a reasonable compromise between capital investment costs and system reliability, a method of determining the optimal size of hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) components is needed. This study proposes a smart management approach to optimal sizing and power management of hybrid photovoltaic-wind turbine generation with hydrogen and battery storage, considering contemporary economics, system reliability, and environmental policies to meet the dynamic energy demands of a wastewater treatment plant (WWTP). A multi-objective approach based on a fuzzy–decision-making method is proposed to solve the optimization problem. Extended power-pinch analysis was applied to optimize the size of components and determine feasible electrical-storage capacity to tackle the dynamic power loads of the WWTP. A year of observations showed that an HRES has a high reliability level for energy loading up to 86% when supplying a dynamic demand, with acceptable environmental emissions and an economical budget.