Site Suitability Analysis for Wind Power Plant in Maysan Governorate, Iraq Using GIS-AHP Technique

Hamsa H.  Abbas; Faleh H.  Mahmood; Ali K.  Resen

doi:10.24996/ijs.2026.67.10.29

Authors

Hamsa H. Abbas University of Baghdad, College of Science, Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, Baghdad, Iraq
Faleh H. Mahmood University of Baghdad, College of Science, Department of Remote Sensing and GIS, Baghdad, Iraq
Ali K. Resen Scientific Research Commission, Research and Technology Center of Environment, Water and Renewable Energy, Baghdad, Iraq https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7700-2125

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24996/ijs.2026.67.10.29

Keywords:

GIS, AHP, Wind Energy, MCDM, Weight overlay

Abstract

This paper presents a comprehensive methodology for enhancing land suitability analysis for wind power plants using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques. This study evaluates Maysan governorate in Iraq, concentrating on identifying sustainable strategies to enhance and promote renewable energy as a viable alternative to meet energy demands. The integrated methodology involving AHP and GIS encompasses several stages, including the structuring of the AHP hierarchy, the description of appraisal criteria, the execution of pairwise comparisons, and the preparation of criterion maps and land appropriateness maps. This approach was used to identify locations suitable for the installation of wind power plants. The results revealed that 28.35% of the total land (16,683.1 km²) is classified as having low land suitability, 67.58% as moderate land suitability, and 4.06% as having high land suitability for installing wind power plants.