Evaluation of Renewable Energy Sources Exploitation at remote regions, using Computing Model and Multi-Criteria Analysis: A Case-Study in Samothrace, Greece

Abstract

The exhaustion of conventional energy reserves (diesel, coal, gas etc.), coupled with environmental impacts, influence seriously sustainability aspects of the whole planet, both from an economic as well as an environmental point of view. The use of renewable energy resources for electricity generation is being promoted by most countries. The present job focuses on exploitation of Renewable Energy Sources (RES) based not only on economical criteria which derived from a HOMER software tool but also on environmental, social and technical criteria using Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) for their evaluation. In this paper, a case study for the island of Samothrace, Greece is analyzed. Samothrace has a high potential for energy resource exploitation (mainly Wind and Solar), but has social acceptance problems because of its socioeconomic and environmental situation. The evaluation proposed help to select the most suitable alternatives.