102nd Meeting of the EURO Working Group in Multiple Criteria Decision Aiding

The Need for Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) in Hydrogen Infrastructure Rollout

17 Sept 2026, 15:30

30m

Siemens Auditorium (HIT E 51) (ETH Zürich)

Poster submission Poster Session & Coffee Break

Speaker

Jainaba Conteh (University of Bath)

Description

Existing infrastructure planning often overlooks temporal factors [1, 2]. This is further exacerbated by the inability of existing infrastructure planning frameworks to effectively handle multiple decision-making criteria. We plan to apply multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) techniques to evaluate hydrogen delivery approaches in the UK, with a focus on the impact of infrastructure rollout on hydrogen infrastructure configuration within a spatial decision framework.
We provide findings from three preliminary studies. Study 1 used life cycle assessment (LCA) to compare electricity transmission with local hydrogen production and hydrogen production with pipeline transport between Aberdeen and the Humber. The results showed that pipeline transport resulted in environmental impacts that were 2.8–20 times lower across all assessed impact categories including climate change, land use, and energy resources. Therefore, the configuration of co-locating hydrogen production with renewable generation and transporting hydrogen by pipeline offers the lowest environmental impact.
Study 2 conducted a GIS-based suitability analysis using a weighted overlay approach incorporating proximity to industrial sites (40%), distance from residential areas (30%), and proximity to the existing National Transmission System gas network (30%). The results showed that the areas close to the existing natural gas pipeline have the highest suitability for pipeline development.
Study 3 investigated stakeholder perspectives using survey questionnaires with industrial decarbonisation experts. Economic and demand-related criteria emerged as the most important criteria influencing infrastructure siting decisions. Of the spatial criteria identified, proximity to demand was the most frequently identified criterion.
The findings showed that environmentally optimal infrastructure configuration may not align with stakeholder preferences. This highlights the need for an integrated spatial decision framework that combines multiple criteria to support a more effective hydrogen infrastructure deployment strategy.
Future work will focus on using methods that incorporate temporal considerations, reflecting changes in spatial configurations and policy decisions over time.