Validity of decision criteria for selecting power-to-gas projects in Poland

Abstract

Renewable energy sources ultimately intend to become the only power source in modern economies. In the coming years, new generation systems based on renewable energy sources (RESs), new energy transmission systems, and new management systems will be introduced for the electricity and gas sectors. As RESs work irregularly, proper management is crucial for the reliable operation of the electrical grid. Their utility will depend mainly on energy storage capacity. Power-to-gas (P2G) technology, where electrical energy is converted into, e.g., hydrogen or methane, will become an essential solution. The forthcoming transformation will require substantial financial and technical investments. Decision-makers should consider many factors (e.g., social responsibility, location, distance from gas and electrical grids, and solar and wind resources). The implementation of individual projects should be carried out carefully. Poorly planned projects work inefficiently in terms of costs and technical aspects. This paper aims to identify the conditions necessary for implementing P2G projects. Multi-Criteria approaches based on chosen benchmarks can help to select optimal P2G projects.In the paper, the weights of the proposed decision criteria, such as investment cost, investment return time, substrate resources, environmental attraction and social acceptance, were determined based on the stakeholder surveys using the chosen elements of the Analytical Hierarchical Process (AHP) method. The proposed approach allows considering differing viewpoints and establishing the validity of each of them indirectly. The applied approach based on the AHP method, the validity of technical, economic and environmental criteria was determined based on both the preferences of experts in the field of energy and transportation as well as the energy end-users. As a result of the analysis, two dominant factors were selected: access to substrates and economic efficiency - meaning that a deep analysis of substrates resources should precede the work on P2G projects.