Harnessing Vietnam's coastal potential: Prioritizing marine energy technologies with an objectively weighting decision-making approach

Abstract

Vietnam's potential to harness marine energy for sustainable development is significant due to its long coastline, yet this potential remains underutilized as current renewable energy efforts focus mainly on wind and solar power. This study addressed the challenge of selecting optimal Marine Energy Technologies (METs) for Vietnam's specific environmental and socio-economic context. A streamlined methodology, integrating the Method based on the Removal Effects of Criteria (MEREC) and the Spherical Fuzzy Combined Compromise Solution (SF CoCoSo) methods, facilitated a multi-criteria analysis that distilled expert opinions into a decision-making framework. The study identified Point Absorbers (PAB) as the most promising MET for Vietnam, with Overtopping Devices (OTD) and Salinity Gradient Power (SGP) also ranking well based on key factors like readiness and cost. This study introduces a methodology that, with a more comprehensive data set including various marine energy technologies, could provide valuable insights for decision-makers in Vietnam's marine energy sector.