Wind farm site selection using BWM-AHP-MARCOS method: A case study of Libya

Abstract

Exploiting renewable energies has become an urgent environmental requirement, especially in light of the high levels of pollution and increased global warming caused by the use of millions of tons of fossil fuels for energy production. Research has also helped reduce the cost of obtaining renewable energy, making it a strong competitor to traditional energy sources. Despite the fact that many developed countries have made great strides in using renewable energy sources as an important part of their energy mix, developing countries continue to suffer in this area, despite the availability of these energy sources. In this study, a hybrid multi-criteria approach based on a combination of three methods, namely the Best-Worst method, the Analytical Hierarchical Process method and the Measurement of Alternatives and Ranking According to Compromise Solution method, was applied in order to select the best site for the installation of a wind farm. The novelty of this study has been manifested through the fact that we developed and used this integrated model for the first time in literature. Thanks to applying two methods for determining criteria weights and one for ranking can be obtained more precise results and can be selected optimal location. Six criteria were used to compare the proposed sites. The combined Best-Worst method and the Analytical Hierarchical Process method were used to extract criteria weights. Based on the six criteria, a comparison was made between five proposed sites in the state of Libya, which is still almost entirely dependent on fossil fuels to obtain electricity. The result showed that the safety and quality criterion is the most important with a weight of 0.573, followed by the social impression criterion with a weight of 0.203. According to the model, the city of Derna, in the far northeast of the country, came out on top with a weight of 0.703, followed by the city of Tarhuna, in the west of the country, with a value of 0.35. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed to test the stability of the results by changing the weights of the criteria. The results obtained indicate the strength of the proposed model when the experts' opinions on the criteria change. The evaluation criteria and this methodology can be applied to other cities to continue the orientation towards sustainability.