Assessment of Wind Power Plant Potentials via MCDM Methods in Marmara Region of Turkey

Abstract

Today the use of renewable energy sources is increasing day by day. The essential advantages of the wind energy are that it is clean, of low cost, and unlimited. In this work, the wind energy potential of the provinces of the Marmara region in Turkey is evaluated by the multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) methods. The TOPSIS and PROMETHEE methods are used for analysis of the criteria weights by two different approaches. In the first approach, the criteria weights are taken equally. In the second approach, the criteria are weighted using the AHP method. When the methods are applied by taking the criteria weights equally, Balikesir and canakkale are determined as the wind priority provinces in potential, while Kocaeli and Sakarya take the last rank. After the criteria weights are determined via AHP when the TOPSIS and PROMETHEE methods are applied, Balikesir ranks first and Kocaeli ranks last. The Spearman's correlation coefficient determines the level and direction of the relationship between the rankings obtained from the TOPSIS and PROMETHEE methods. When the methods are applied, the value of 0.636 indicate that the relationship between the rankings is positive and moderate . When the criteria are weighted with AHP, and the methods are applied, the correlation coefficient is obtained as 0.909 . This value indicates a positive and very high level of relationship. The ranking results obtained when the methods are applied after the criterion weights are calculated with AHP are more supportive of each other.