Optimizing Wind Farm Development With Geospatial Analysis in Eastern Saudi Arabia

Abstract

This paper presents an integrated geospatial-assisted decision-making framework for evaluating land suitability and energy potential for utility-scale onshore wind turbine installations. By combining geographic information systems and multi-criteria decision-making techniques, the study evaluates site suitability based on climatological, environmental, locational, and topographical factors. Application in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province reveals that 81.5% of the region is unsuitable due to restrictions like grid remoteness, infrastructure gaps, and prohibited zones such as oil and gas facilities, land use, bird paths, and flood-prone areas) while 18.5% (96.,806 km<sup xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">2</sup>) is moderately suitable. Additionally, capacity factor analysis identifies northwest zones (0.37-0.40) as key areas for maximizing wind energy efficiency. This framework supports Vision 2030 by providing a scalable tool for renewable energy planning and policy development.