The negative effects of traditional methods of
electricity generation on the environment have created the need for strategic
planning and development of renewable and sustainable energy systems. This
paper presents the analysis of the suitability of wind farm sites using a Boolean
decision-making approach based on geographic
information system (GIS) modeling. This analysis is based on different
climatic, geographical, economic and environmental criteria such as wind resource, slope, accessibility by road,
proximity to the electricity network and optimal distance from airports.
The results of the study show that the most favorable sites are mainly located
in the northern part of the country, particularly in the Far North and North
regions. There are also favorable sites in
the North-West, South-West, West, Littoral and very little in the South
while the central and eastern regions are not suitable. This is mainly due to
the tropical forest that covers the entire region of East Cameroon and the low
wind speed in these regions which is the determining factor for the
installation of wind farms. The appropriate land for the installation of wind farms is approximately
2.56% corresponding to an area of 11,602.494414km2. However, when we include the condition that a wind farm
must have at least 4km
References
[1]
Ayodele, T.R., Ogunjuyigbe, A.S.O., Odigie, O. and Munda, J.L. (2018) A Multi-Criteria GIS Based Model for Wind Farm Site Selection Using Interval Type-2 Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process: The Case Study of Nigeria. Applied Energy, 228, 1853-1869. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2018.07.051
[2]
Baseer, M.A., Rehman, S., Meyer, J.P. and Alam, M.M. (2017) GIS-Based Site Suitability Analysis for Wind Farm Development in Saudi Arabia. Energy, 141, 1166-1176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2017.10.016
[3]
Ayodele, T.R., Ogunjuyigbe, A.S.O., Odigie, O. and Jimoh, A.A. (2018) On the Most Suitable Sites for Wind Farm Development in Nigeria. Data in Brief, 19, 29-41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2018.04.144
[4]
Siyal, S.H., Mörtberg, U., Mentis, D., Welsch, M., Babelon, I. and Howells, M. (2015) Wind Energy Assessment Considering Geographic and Environmental Restrictions in Sweden: A GIS-Based Approach. Energy, 83, 447-461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2015.02.044
[5]
Jangid, J., et al. (2016) Potential Zones Identification for Harvesting Wind Energy Resources in Desert Region of India—A Multi Criteria Evaluation Approach Using Remote Sensing and GIS. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 65, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.06.078
[6]
Noorollahi, Y., Yousefi, H. and Mohammadi, M. (2016) Multi-Criteria Decision Support System for Wind Farm Site Selection Using GIS. Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 13, 38-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2015.11.007
[7]
Watson, J.J.W. and Hudson, M.D. (2015) Regional Scale Wind Farm and Solar Farm Suitability Assessment Using GIS-Assisted Multi-Criteria Evaluation. Landscape and Urban Planning, 138, 20-31. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2015.02.001
[8]
Anwarzai, M.A. and Nagasaka, K. (2017) Utility-Scale Implementable Potential of Wind and Solar Energies for Afghanistan Using GIS Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 71, 150-160. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.12.048
[9]
Mentis, D., Hermann, S., Howells, M., Welsch, M. and Siyal, S.H. (2015) Assessing the Technical Wind Energy Potential in Africa a GIS-Based Approach. Renewable Energy, 83, 110-125. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2015.03.072
[10]
Villacreses, G., Gaona, G., Martínez-Gómez, J. and Jijón, D.J. (2017) Wind Farms Suitability Location Using Geographical Information System (GIS), Based on Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Methods: The Case of Continental Ecuador. Renewable Energy, 109, 275-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.03.041
[11]
Atici, K.B., Simsek, A.B., Ulucan, A. and Tosun, M.U. (2015) A GIS-Based Multiple Criteria Decision Analysis Approach for Wind Power Plant Site Selection. Utilities Policy, 37, 86-96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2015.06.001
[12]
Gigović, L., Pamučar, D., Božanić, D. and Ljubojević, S. (2017) Application of the GIS-DANP-MABAC Multi-Criteria Model for Selecting the Location of Wind Farms: A Case Study of Vojvodina, Serbia. Renewable Energy, 103, 501-521. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2016.11.057
[13]
Latinopoulos, D. and Kechagia, K. (2015) A GIS-Based Multi-Criteria Evaluation for Wind Farm Site Selection. A Regional Scale Application in Greece. Renewable Energy, 78, 550-560. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2015.01.041
[14]
Al-Yahyai, S., Charabi, Y., Gastli, A. and Al-Badi, A. (2012) Wind Farm Land Suitability Indexing Using Multi-Criteria Analysis. Renewable Energy, 44, 80-87. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2012.01.004
[15]
Sánchez-Lozano, J.M., García-Cascales, M.S. and Lamata, M.T. (2016) GIS-Based Onshore Wind farm Site Selection Using Fuzzy Multi-Criteria Decision Making Methods. Evaluating the Case of Southeastern Spain. Applied Energy, 171, 86-102. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2016.03.030
Church, R.L. (2002) Geographical Information Systems and Location Science. Computers & Operations Research, 29, 541-562. http://ratt.ced.berkeley.edu/readings/GIS_readings/Church_2002.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/S0305-0548(99)00104-5
[24]
Falconer, L., Hunter, D., Telfer, T.C. and Ross, L.G. (2013) Land Use Policy Visual, Seascape and Landscape Analysis to Support Coastal Aquaculture Site Selection. Land Use Policy, 34, 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2013.02.002
[25]
Sánchez-lozano, J.M., Teruel-solano, J., Soto-elvira, P.L. and García-cascales, M.S. (2013) Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and Multi-Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) Methods for the Evaluation of Solar Farms Locations: Case Study in South-Eastern Spain. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 24, 544-556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2013.03.019
