Visual Impact and Potential Visibility Assessment of Wind Turbines Installed in Turkey

Global installed wind power capacity has risen nearly 4.3 times in the last decade, from 120.7 GW in 2008 to more than 591 GW in 2018. On the other hand, installed wind power capacity in Turkey was reported as 7.37 GW in 2018, and it is scheduled to reach 12 GW in 2023. The aim of this paper is to assess the recent growth of wind power generation in Turkey in terms of power generation technologies, wind power potential, techno-economic feasibility, and visibility of onshore wind turbines. In this respect, several metrics such as cumulative installed wind power capacity (MW), total number of turbines, total swept area of turbines (km(2)), total hub height of turbines (km), number of the turbine per turbine power capacity (1/GW), swept area per turbine power capacity (m(2)/MW) and hub height per turbine power capacity (m/MW) are developed to assess wind power generation regionally between the years of 2010 and 2018. Results show that wind power generation capacity is on the rise in Turkey. But this growth also implies an increase in the number and size of turbines. Eventually, turbines with higher hubs and rotor diameters have become more abundant and visible in landscapes.