Application of the Analytic Hierarchy Process Method to Select the Final Solution for Multi-Criteria Optimization of the Structure of a Hybrid Generation System with Energy Storage

This paper concerns the application of the AHP (analytic hierarchy process) multi-criteria decision support method for the final selection of the structure of a hybrid power system with RESs (renewable energy sources) and EES (electrical energy storage) from a set of solutions obtained through multi-criteria optimization. These solutions, depending on their position within the Pareto front, may differ significantly in terms of the values of the criteria functions, or may be located very close to each other in the solution space. The role of the expert is to select the final solution, taking into account many additional criteria, often of a subjective nature. The article optimizes the structure of the proposed system using the multi-criteria NSGA-II (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm) method, taking into account three technical criteria. The AHP method was used to select the final solution, which allows determination of the ranking of solution variants, taking into account selected additional criteria. In the analyzed case, these are primarily economic indicators, technical conditions, and preferences of the system recipients. In addition to determining the ranking of solutions, a sensitivity analysis was performed, which gives the expert extensive knowledge on the impact of individual criteria on the order of variants in the ranking. It was shown that in the case of selecting hybrid structures of generating systems with EES for a specific type of receiver, the use of the AHP method significantly facilitates making the final decision.