Feasibility of building wind power plants in coastal areas of the country using GIS (case study: Khuzestan province)

In Iran, due to the high rate of economic growth and development activities, the annual demand for various energies, including electrical energy, has increased, as a result of which the construction of new power plants has become an undeniable necessity. Considering the evolution of energy in the current century and the need for renewable energies, the use of wind energy and the establishment of wind power plants are increasingly developing. One of the most important issues in the use of wind energy is determining the location of its use, which has a great impact on the efficiency of wind power generation equipment and devices. Determining the right place for the construction of wind power plants requires attention to various criteria and factors. The purpose of this research is to determine the role of climate, geography, economic-social, environmental and geological factors in determining the suitable location for the construction of wind power plants in Khuzestan province. Based on the different roles and effects of these factors, a limitation map and a map of effective factors were prepared. The weights of criteria, sub-criteria and options were determined by Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) in EC2000 software environment and GIS software environment was used for spatial modeling and analysis and information integration. The results show that the southern and southwestern regions of Khuzestan province are the best places to build wind power plants.