Wind-Solar Site Selection using a GIS-MCDM-based Approach with an Application in Kayseri Province/Turkey

Renewable and sustainable energy sources such as wind, biomass, geothermal and solar are defined as a less harmfully to environment than other fossil fuels reserves. At the last decade, the demand of energy because of the rising of industrialization and population is increasing in Turkey. Thus, investments on renewable energy sources especially wind and solar energy systems are increasing rapidly because of unlicensed energy production legislation published by Turkish Ministry of Energy and Natural Sources. Although Turkey has high solar and wind capacity, there has not been develop a tool to determine the suitable regions for hybrid energy systems. In this study, geographical information systems (GIS) and Multi-criteria-base method (MCDM) are used to determine the suitable regions for wind-solar hybrid energy systems of Kayseri Province under potential and environmental impacts. The results shows (2.080 km2) %12.3 of Kayseri is suitable for hybrid energy system investment.