Land suitability assessment for wind farms through best-worst method and GIS in Balıkesir province of Turkey

Abstract

Land suitability assessment for wind farms is a considerable step towards sustainable land use planning but also environmental management and protection. The goal of this study was to develop a Geographical Information Systems (GIS)-Best Worst Method (BWM) based ecomentalist land suitability model to identify optimal locations for wind farms, and to evaluate existing planning preferences. Nine assessment criteria and nineteen constraints were used, and BWM was implemented to reckon the criteria weights. The wind velocity was designated to be the most outstanding assessment criterion, followed by land cover/use, proximity to specific conservation zones, proximity to urban settlements, slope, proximity to wetlands and important bird zones, and others. Standardized thematic suitability maps were presented using Weighted Overlay approach in GIS environment. The findings indicate that 40.90% of the study zone is suitable, and 54.39% of available wind turbines coincide with the suitable classes proposed in this study. This indicates that 45.61% of the real planning preferences are made without considering environmental conditions (e.g. visual impact, noise impact, deforestation, habitat damage to flora and fauna, and land fragmentation), land use features, and disaster conditions (e.g. snowslides, landslides, flood zones). This study provides an ecomentalist, conservationist, and sustainable background for siting wind farms.