AHP with GIS for a Preliminary Site Selection of Wind Turbines in the North West of Jordan

The aim of this study was to identify potential sites for wind turbine in the North West of Jordan. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was used in a novel approach to identify the potential sites for the wind turbine in the study area based on five physical criteria (Wind Speed, Rainfall, Slope, Altitude and Land use) that affect the wind turbine sites. The importance of each criterion was based on experts? opinions. The ratings for each criterion were based on the available literature review. The consistency ratio between the experts? opinions was evaluated using the pairwise comparison method and a final weight was computed for each criterion. A wind turbine suitability map was generated using the weighted linear combination (WLC) method within GIS environment. It was found that 45% of the study area has high and very high suitability for wind turbine. In conclusion, this research will contribute to the enhancement of the available renewable energy resources in Jordan if the selected sites will be utilized for wind turbine.