With the expansion of its industrial and manufacturing sectors, with the goal of positioning Vietnam as the world’s new production hub, Vietnam is forecast to face a surge in energy demand. Today, the main source of energy of Vietnam is fossil fuels, which are not environmentally friendly and are rapidly depleting. The speed of extraction and consumption of fossil fuels is too fast, causing them to become increasingly scarce and gradually depleted. Renewable energy options, such as solar, wind, hydro electrical, and biomass, can be considered as sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels. However, to ensure the effectiveness of renewable energy development initiatives, technological, economic, and environmental must be taken in consideration when choosing a suitable renewable energy resource. In this research, the authors present a multi-criteria decision-making model (MCDM) implementing the grey analytic hierarchy process (G-AHP) method and the weighted aggregates sum product assessment (WASPAS) method for the selection of optimal renewable energy sources for the energy sector of Vietnam. The results of the proposed model have determined that solar energy is the optimal source of renewable energy with a performance score of 0.8822, followed by wind (0.8766), biomass (0.8488), and solid waste energy (0.8135) based on the calculations of the aforementioned methods.

Following the recent development trend in the struggle for cleaning the earth’s environment, solar is the one of most promising area that can partially be used as a replaceable energy from non-renewable fuel sources. As such, it plays a significant role in protecting the environment from global warming. As solar power does not emit harmful gases into the atmosphere, its production, distribution, setup, and operation are vital should the production remain constant. Even solar energy waste emissions are small; when compared to current energy sources, the amount of harmful gases is negligible. This paper presented an integrated approach for site of solar plants by using data envelopment analysis (DEA) and Fuzzy Analytical Network Process (FANP). Furthermore, these integrated methodologies, incorporated with the most relevant parameters of requirements for solar plants, are introduced. First, the paper considers an integrated hierarchical DEA and FANP model for the optimal geographical location of solar plants in Mekong Delta Region, Vietnam. Using the proposed model for implementation would allow the renewable energy policy makers to select and control the optimal location for allocating and constructing a solar energy power plant in Vietnam. This is the preferred strategy for location optimization problems associated with solar plant units in Vietnam and around the world.