Location selection for solar power plant in Western Mediterranean region

Situated in developing countries Turkey's need for energy is increasing every day. Turkey has turned to the clean and renewable energy sources to meet this increased demand. In the energy sector target of 2023, 30% of electricity production is supplied from renewable energy sources. The investments of solar energy power plants to achieve these targets are very important because of the Turkey's geographical position. It is difficult to decide whether there are many contradictory criteria in determining the place of establishment of solar energy plants. In this study, it has been tried to determine the most suitable place among the nine alternatives for the solar energy plant which is considered to be established in the West Mediterranean Region by using multi criteria decision making techniques. In the study, eight criteria were determined in the direction of expert opinions and then criterial weights were calculated with the a new method known as Best-Worst Method. The order of the alternatives was made with TOPSIS and MOORA methods. In TOPSIS and MOORA methods, Şarkikaraağaç alternative took the first place, while Döşemealti alternative was the last in both methods.