A literature review: Wind energy within the scope of MCDM methods

Abstract

Renewable energy sources are vital for environmental sustainability. With the damage of fossil fuels to nature and the depletion of fossil fuels over time, energy production from clean and inexhaustible renewable energy sources has become widespread. Wind energy, one of the renewable energy sources, is a clean energy source that does not emit any harmful waste to the environment. Wind energy is a low-cost energy source that is mostly used for electricity generation. Criteria such as wind speed, turbine structure, and the characteristics of the areas where the wind turbines will be located are effective on the amount of energy to be produced. In this study, a comprehensive review of the studies using MCDM methods related to wind energy is made. In the manner of the statistical data obtained from the 97 studies examined, it has been observed that the wind energy investments of the countries and the scientific publications made in these countries do not progress linearly with each other. The fact that countries have different wind energy potentials and the difference in the countries' interest in renewable energy sources is thought to be effective in this regard. While there are articles in the literature in which studies on renewable energy sources are discussed together with MCDM methods, there is no comprehensive review study in which wind energy and MCDM methods are discussed together. According to our best knowledge, this is the first study to comprehensively evaluate wind energy studies in terms of multi-criteria decision-making methods. With this study, a framework has been presented for subsequent studies on the application of MCDM methods in wind energy.