CRITERIA TO BE MET IN SELECTING THE OPTIMAL AREAS FOR GENERATING ALTERNATIVE ELECTRIC ENERGY FROM WIND
The issue of renewable energy, an alternative to energy resulting from fossil fuels, is one of the most important topics that researchers have been interested in in recent years, due to its importance in reducing the effects of fossil fuels and the environmental pollution they cause, as well as being one of the important methods that reduce the depletion of large quantities of oil and gas in generating electrical energy from it. The generation of alternative electric energy depends on a number of natural elements that are naturally available, permanent, and renewable, such as solar radiation energy, wind energy, as well as water energy and bioenergy resulting from the use of animal remains and the remains of various human uses. We will focus here in this research on wind energy as one of the most important energies used in the generation of clean, environmentally friendly electric power because of its characteristic of not leaving any environmental pollutants during its generation, as well as its other advantages. The generation of electric power from the wind needs to choose the optimal areas for generating it in a way that guarantees its continuity, and generating it in economic quantities that contribute to meeting the increasing needs of electricity in various human activities. Therefore, the study of winds and knowledge of their characteristics, speed and directions are among the most important things concerned by those interested in climate affairs to ensure the continuity of their generation, whose speed should not be less than 3.6 m3 / second during the months of the year. And when choosing any area to generate electric power from wind and installing wind turbines in it, several important criteria must be available that must be available in the chosen area to ensure the success of the project of the stations built on it and ensure its continuity and in economic quantities, so we will focus in our research on those environmental and spatial criteria that must be available in choosing Areas of installation of electric power plants from wind, and we will take the western plateau region in Najaf province as a model for this study.
Keywords: Electric Energy, Wind, Renewable Energy.