Sustainable Site Selection for Offshore Wind Farms in the South Aegean-Greece

The present research study develops and implements an integrated methodology for the evaluation and prioritization of appropriate sites for sustainable offshore wind-farm development at a regional level. The methodological framework includes the application of several siting criteria (technical, spatial, economic, social and environmental) proposed either by the national legislative framework (Specific Plan for Spatial Planning and Sustainable Development for Renewable Energy) or the international literature with the combined use of geographic information systems (GIS) and multi-criteria decision methods, namely the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to ideal solution (TOPSIS). The whole methodology provides a decision-making process for offshore wind-farm planning at regional level. The proposed methodology and the outputs of this work can be used to ensure the sustainable spatial development and policy of renewable energy resources.