Identifying and prioritizing obstructions and strategies towards wind energy using an integrated MCDM approach

The expansion of wind energy is crucial for sustainable development, yet its growth is hindered by multiple barriers, particularly in developing countries. Effective policy interventions are essential to address these challenges and facilitate wind energy integration. However, limited research has explored systematic approaches to identify and prioritize these obstacles. This study employs the Spherical Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (SF-AHP) integrated with the novel Spherical Fuzzy Multi-Attributive Border Approximation Area Comparison (SF-MABAC) algorithm to assess key barriers and proposes a strategic solution. The findings indicate that the category of financial obstacles (0.2429) exhibits the highest ranking. On the contrary, the comprehensive global rankings reveal that limited government subsidies (6.9296 %), lack of wind power policy (5.9361 %), and unbalanced feed-in-tariff (5.1176 %) are the three most significant sub-obstacles amongst the remaining twenty-five obstacles within various categories. The study further identifies “securing adequate financial support” as the optimal strategy for overcoming these barriers. The outcomes of the sensitivity and comparability assessments indicated that the rankings derived from the method employed are legitimate and reliable. The findings contribute to the efficient implementation of wind energy projects, particularly in Pakistan, where strategic interventions are necessary to enhance sustainability and energy security.