Criteria for wind energy projects’ location assesment
Insuring a sustainable development of wind energy production and consumption is challenging and highly important for /achieving of EU 20/20/20 goals for Bulgaria. Wind energy has been seen as a clean and environmentally friendly in comparison with conventional energy sources, but there are still some conflicts between wind energy project development and environmental protection goals that should be enlighten and solved. One possible way is to enhance the process of wind energy projects’ location identification. The current research is focused on identification and classification of criterion that could be used in this process. The legal requirements regarding wind energy projects’ location are analyzed and presented. Additional requirements regarding environmental protection and biodiversity conservation are identified and defined as criterion. A set of measurable indicators related to each criteria is established and proposed in this paper.