Green hydrogen technology development and usage policymaking in Iran using SWOT analysis and MCDM methods

Now days, green hydrogen has emerged as a promising source of clean, sustainable, and carbon-neutral energy. Therefore, based on the policy recommendations of relevant international organizations, some countries have developed their green hydrogen policies and roadmaps. However, there is concern about how to customize the policy framework in a way that reflects the unique characteristics of each country, because the need to consider specific conditions and facilities of countries to design strategies and roadmaps is obvious. On the other hand, despite the huge resource potential, the Middle-eastern countries have not yet developed any hydrogen roadmap. This study, taking the Iran's particular internal and external factors into account, is an attempt to propose strategies for developing policies in this area. To conduct this study, a combination of SWOT, AHP, F-TOPSIS and FVIKOR methods was adopted. First, the SWOT technique was applied to identify strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) as well as threats and opportunities (external factors). Then, the identified factors were prioritized through the AHP method. In the end, F-VIKOR and F-TOPSIS methods were used to rank the 9 proposed strategies. Comparing the obtained rankings showed almost identical results. According to the final findings, "determining green hydrogen technology's role in energy policymaking" is the top priority, with "carrying out experimental projects" and "promoting hydrogen as a source of energy through public acceptance" taking the next priorities.& COPY; 2023 Hydrogen Energy Publications LLC. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.