Alexandra-Roxana VRÎNCEANU, Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, Romania
Gheorghe KUCSICSA, Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, Romania
Monica DUMITRA?CU, Institute of Geography, Romanian Academy, Romania
In a global and European context dominated by climate change, Romania is intensifying its efforts to transition from conventional to renewable energy sources, contributing to achieving the objectives of the European Union. Solar energy was selected for this study, as it had the largest increase in national renewable energy production in the 2013-2020 period, of over 900%. There is also still great potential for its expansion. This paper includes an analysis of the suitability of land for the construction of photovoltaic farms in Romanian Plain in relation to current investments in this field, given the fact that most power plants in the country were built in this area. Thus, the suitability of the land for the construction of photovoltaic farms was spatially modeled, based on the Multicriteria Evaluation of favorable / restrictive biophysical and anthropogenic data, integrated into the GIS-Weighted Overlay spatial analysis. The modeled data was validated by the current spatial distribution of photovoltaic farms, mapped by visual interpretation of the images provided by Google Earth. The final map of areas suitable for the construction of photovoltaic farms indicates a high potential for the expansion of this type of energy in the area, with over 3.5 million hectares (77% of total modeled lands). At the same time, the results indicate important mismatches between the modelled site suitability and the current investment made in the area. Besides, the analysis highlighted the possibility of reusing contaminated or degraded land through investments in solar energy. The results of the study can be useful to investors in order to improve future projects, in accordance with the modeled suitability degree.
Mots clés : photovoltaic farms|land suitability modelling|current investments quantification|Romania
A104403AV