A Multi-Criteria Approach to Evaluate Floating Offshore Wind Farms Siting in the Canary Islands (Spain)

Hugo Díaz,Carlos Guedes Soares

doi:10.3390/en14040865

Abstract

The study presents a methodology for floating wind farms site selection with a Canary Islands case study. The frame combines geographical information systems (GIS) and multiple criteria decision methods (MCDMs). First, the problematic areas for the installation of the turbines are identified through a GIS database application. This tool generates thematic layers representing exclusion criteria. Then, at the second stage of the study, available maritime locations are analyzed and ranked using the analytical hierarchy process (AHP), based on technical, economic, and environmental aspects. AHP’s technique guarantee the elimination of the judgment’s subjectivity. The study also compared the solutions of the AHP technique with other methods, such as Preference Ranking Organization METHod for Enrichment of Evaluations (PROMETHEE), ELimination Et Choix Traduisant la Realité (ELECTRE III), Technique for Order Preferences by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) and Weighted Sum Algorithm (WSA(). The main result of this study is the creation of a realistic and objective overview of floating offshore wind farm site selection and the contribution to minimize the environmental impacts and to reduce the social conflicts between stakeholders.

Highlights

The Canary Islands is a Spanish volcanic origin archipelago, situated in the northAtlantic between 39◦ 450 and 14◦ 490 N, and between 31◦ 170 and 13◦ 200 W, 111 km off the northwestern coast of the African continent
The main result of this study is the creation of a realistic and objective overview of floating offshore wind farm site selection and the contribution to minimize the environmental impacts and to reduce the social conflicts between stakeholders
This study develops an integrated multi-criteria decision support framework for various studies tend to increase wind turbines’ power to increase their efficiency

Summary

Introduction

The Canary Islands is a Spanish volcanic origin archipelago, situated in the northAtlantic between 39◦ 450 and 14◦ 490 N, and between 31◦ 170 and 13◦ 200 W, 111 km off the northwestern coast of the African continent. The Canary Islands is a Spanish volcanic origin archipelago, situated in the north. The littoral slope drops to significant depths near the coastline. The Canary archipelago is comprised of seven major islands (Gran Canaria, Fuerteventura, Tenerife, Lanzarote, La Palma, La Gomera and El Hierro) along with a series on smaller islands and islets (Figure 1). The land surface covers 7542 km , of which a total of 1490 km are coastline [1]. This archipelago emerged from the ocean because of the accumulation of lava from several volcanic eruptions due to the continental drift. The islands appeared separately, and the depths of the channels between them can reach 1500 to 2000 m

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