Harnessing solar and wind power for sustainable seawater desalination: A multi-criteria geospatial suitability analysis

Water and energy sustainability are major concerns of the world's nations at present. This research introduces a geographical decision-making model for strategically selecting optimal locations for seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plants (SWRODPs). Furthermore, it assesses the best electrification approach, considering onshore wind turbine (WT) or solar photovoltaic (PV) power plants. A representative case-study of the Egyptian Red Sea Coast Region (ERSCR) is considered to validate the proposed model. The study delineates nineteen assessment criteria for building an informed selection of SWRODPs' potential locations. Seven experts with at least ten years of expertise in desalination and renewable technologies were selected to obtain accurate assessment criteria that imitate the real-life selection process. The group best-worth method (GBWM) was employed to ascertain optimal weights for the geospatial model criteria. The findings indicate that a mere 6.11 % of the total land area is deemed suitable, with the remaining 93.89 % classified as restricted. The suitable area is divided into different suitability classes in which about 65.85 % of the suitable area is found good for establishing the SWRODPs, while about 23.65 % of suitable land is found of moderate suitability. Besides, about 9.21 % and 0.03 % of suitable lands are considered very good and excellent suitability for implementing SWRODPs' projects. Moreover, the analysis pinpointed 8 % of the ERSCR (∼12,810 km²) as a highly suitable area for PV installation, predominantly within Qusir, Ras Sidr, Hurghada, and Ataqa districts. Concurrently, a scant 0.15 % (∼244 km²) is optimal for WT in the Qusir district. Further, the results offer proposals to the authorities and energy investors with about 50,200 km² and 39,858 km² of the ERSCR suitable for establishing SWRODPs powered by PV and WT, respectively. Overall, the research findings are anticipated to bolster the UN's sustainable development goals 6 and 7 and align with Egypt's Vision 2030.