Developing site selection indices for hydro-pumped storage systems (Case study: Tehran Province, Iran)

The demand for renewable energy technologies is increasing globally. With the rapid depletion of fossil fuels and the growing awareness of their harmful impacts on the environment and climate, there is an urgent need to focus on developing renewable resources. However, a significant challenge with renewable energy is its variability due to factors like weather and time of day. This causes the amount of generated power to vary drastically in unfavorable situations, making the design of effective storage technologies a high priority. The primary role of these structures is to store excess energy and release it later at peak shaving. Among various available storage methods, pumped hydro storage systems are prominent, particularly for bulk energy storage. Owing to the complexity of the site selection process for these structures, developing and arranging key site selection indicators based on precise location criteria is critical. In the present case study in Tehran Province, Iran, seven suitability indicators based on 24 location criteria were defined to optimize the site selection process for hydro-pumped storage systems. Each index includes a specific number of site selection sub-criteria. To prioritize the criteria, the Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process method and surveys from five experts were applied to determine the final weights. Using this method, several suitable locations with different varieties were identified throughout the Tehran Province, Iran.