Application of Multi-criteria Decision Making Techniques to Selection of Wind Turbines – A study of three potential sites in Saudi Arabia

Wind energy has evolved as an important and contemporary field of study due to its low cost and environmental friendliness compared to traditional fossil fuels. Harnessing maximum energy output lies with the efficient design of wind farms in which wind turbines are located. However, efficient wind farm design depends on several criteria. These criteria are often mutually conflicting. That is, improvement in one criteria negatively affects the other(s). Therefore, a compromise needs to be found that provides the best tradeoff between all design criteria. This projects aims at developing a multi-criteria decision-making approach based on goal programming strategy. The proposed approach will be tested using data from three potential sites in Saudi Arabia, namely, Dhulum, Gassim, and Rawdat ben Habbas. Several types of wind turbines from different vendors in the range of 600KW to 2000KW will be evaluated for their suitability for a specific site. The proposed work has potential benefits for the Kingdom, such as paving the way for green energy, and reduction in Kingdoms dependency on its fossil fuel reserves for power generation.