Wind turbine technology is a field that has experienced significant innovation and technical progress over the last decades. Because of this, such projects are more feasible now than ever, particularly from a technical perspective. However, as wind turbines become more widespread people’s opinions of them have in some instances changed for the worse. This means that decision makers must assess other factors than wind speed when considering site locations. It proves difficult to assess which factors should be considered when choosing a location, and how they should be weighted.
This master’s thesis investigates the factors that determine suitability for wind farm locations. Using this information, a case study is conducted investigating the suitability of the area surrounding highway E18 between Grimstad and Kristiansand. To obtain this information a literature review was conducted on similar scientific works. Primarily, works utilizing a variation of multi-criteria decision analysis and geographic information systems (GIS-MCDA) were considered. The suitability factors that were most prevalent in these studies were included in this study. Furthermore, the case study contained a similar methodology, using expert teams to procure a suitability map of the study area to produce comparable results. In addition, the literature review was extended to contain more local studies, and a semi-structured interview was carried out. This extension of the methodology was done to cover topics of local relevance. Mainly, these revolve around the local opinion on wind farms, which is an issue not covered to great extent in the foreign literature. Public opinion is highly relevant for this study, but these attributes are problematic to quantify in a GIS-MCDA.
Expectedly, it was found in the literature that wind speed is the most prioritized criteria. While some
experts from the survey concurred, some also considered distance to urban areas as the most
important factor. Regardless of this finding, there was strong agreement amongst all sources that
there is an abundance of consideration decision-makers must be aware of when choosing a site
location. These include the aforementioned factors, as well as distance to infrastructure, slope and
many more. The most prominent attributes were included in the GIS-MCDA-model. The result shows
limited suitability for wind farms in most of the study area. However, four suitable areas were
identified. These areas need further examination before regulatory authorities can approve a project
there
