Geoprocessing model for identifying potential wind farm locations

The selection of suitable geographic locations for wind farms can be challenging due to the various agents involved in the process, such as, environmentalists, investors, government agencies, and utilities. In addition, selection criteria differ depending on the agents preferences. The site selection process considers the factors and constraints posed by these agents, such as technical (wind power density), physical (safe distance to air force station, roads, and transmission lines), economic (terrain slope), social (settlements and hospitals), and environmental (forests, lakes, ponds, and streams). Geographical information system (GIS) is a powerful tool for enhancing spatial decisions. A combination of Boolean logic, fuzzy logic, and the weighted product method is used in GIS to identify feasible locations. Further simplification of the entire geo-processing operation is modification into a single operation using a geo-processing modeller in an open source QGIS software environment. This study determined that the most suitable locations for wind farms are in close proximity to urban areas within the study area of Palladam Taluk, India.