A study of appropriate wave energy technology for sustainable development in Australia

The deployment and development of wave energy systems to increase energy sector efficiency is essential for governments. To develop and maximize the exploitation of wave energy sources, applying appropriate technologies is extremely important. The design of decision-making tools to identify the best technology for developing energy resources optimally is one of the primary decision-making issues in the energy sector. In this article, we have proposed a Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) model to select suitable technologies among eleven wave energy harvesting technologies: OPT PowerBuoy, AquaBuoy, Archimedes Wave Swing, Salter’s Duck, Aquamarine PowerOyster, Bio Wave, SEAREV, Weptos, Mighty Whale, Wave dragon. To handle conflicting objectives during evaluation, the Fuzzy AHP method is used to calculate the weight of the criteria. Then, wave energy harvesting technology is ranked using the Fuzzy TOPSIS approach. An actual case study from Australia was examined in order to show the viability of the suggested decision-making methodology. This study applies a valuable reference to the issue of wave technology selection; Therefore, managers involved in wave energy can use the problem-solving approach in this study to identify the most suitable wave energy technology based on their criteria. Research results show that the most suitable technologies for optimal development of wave energy sources in Australia are WET-05 and WET-03 with coefficients of 0.852 and 0.806, respectively. Meanwhile, two technologies considered unsuitable for developing wave energy sources in this study are WET-06 and WET-11 with scores of 0.375 and 0.381, respectively. In this study, the combined application of the two FAHP-FTOPSIS methods is considered more appropriate because of its theoretical ease of understanding as well as the simplicity of application and robustness of the results.