A suitable wind turbine selection for achieving maximum efficiency from wind energy by an adaptive hybrid multi-criteria decision-making approach

Abstract

Wind energy is rapidly developing and gaining great importance among renewable energy sources. Moreover, wind energy is an important renewable energy option that is clean and environmentally friendly but has comparatively high costs. Wind turbines especially play an essential role in increasing wind energy conversion systems costs. For this reason, choosing the most suitable turbine in planning wind energy systems is very valuable for investors. The approaches used in literature studies have a limited perspective. Therefore, this study presented an adaptive hybrid multi-criteria decision-making approach for the first time in the appropriate wind turbine selection. Expert interviews and literature reviews were considered in the application phase of the model. Four mains (technical, economic, environmental, and customer service criteria) and seventeen sub-criteria were applied for the thirty-five wind turbine brands selected in the suggested adaptive hybrid assessment model. Additionally, the consistency analysis performed to test the consistency of comparisons shows that the analyses and choices have high consistency. The adaptive hybrid model suggested in this study can also be easily used to select a suitable wind turbine for onshore and offshore wind farm planning.