T. Tsoutsos , I. Tsitoura , D. Kokologos , K. Kalaitzakis ,
"Sustainable Siting Process in Large Wind Farms: Case Study in Crete",presented at
Prov. World Renewable Energy Congress - Int. Conf. on Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development and Decarbonization, Perth, Australia, 2013.
The growing energy demand, as well as the supporting European policies of thesustainable development, has strengthened the global interest in wind powerinstallations during the last decade. The interest is higher in areas with promisingnatural terrain, such as the Greek islands. The region of Crete encourages the siting ofwind farms due to the strong wind potential and the insular rough terrain.The aim of this study is to develop and to implement a methodology ofcomprehensive evaluation and prioritization of areas for site selection of sustainablewind farms at a regional level, which can be used to support the strategic spatialplanning of the island.The basic tool used to achieve the study’s goals is the Specific Plan for SpatialPlanning and Sustainable Development for Renewable Energy applied on GeographicInformation Systems and the parallel integration of a systematic and flexible methodof multicriteria analysis.The main output of this study is the provision of an objective and realistic overviewon wind farm siting issue and the reinforcement of the regional and nationalpolicy/decision makers based on a sustainable regional development strategy avoidingfragmented decisions