## 2 Methodological Framework
\begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline
**Elimination Criteria** & **Reasoning** & **References from Other** & **Source of Data** \\  & & **Studies** & **Used in the Paper** \\ \hline
1. NATURA 2000 1 areas & This elimination criterion refers to the area of Europe, but it can be applied to all other continents, taking into account protected natural areas and national parks, especially IBA (Important Bird Area) areas, considering that wind farms can have a dominant impact on flying fauna. & [15; 18; 19; 20; 21; 22; 23; 24; 25] & Spatial plan of the Republic of Serbia 2021–2035 (SPRS) \\ \hline
2. Water surfaces & All water surfaces (watercourses, lakes, Ramsar wetland sites) are excluded from consideration for the location of wind farms for technological, ecological and functional reasons. & [18; 26; 27; 28] & [29] \\ \hline
3. Immovable cultural property & Protected immovable cultural assets and archaeological sites, as well as areas proposed for their protection, should not be considered for the location of wind farms. & [26; 30; 31; 32] & SPRS, [33] \\ \hline
4. Distance from settlements and vulnerable structures (\(<\)500 m) 2 & A distance of less than 500 m from an inhabited area indicates a possible increase in noise in this zone, particularly when other existing sources of noise are superimposed onto the zone around the settlements and/or wind farm. & [4; 15; 21; 34] & [35] \\ \hline
5. Distance from traffic infrastructure corridors (\(<\)300 m) 3 & The protective corridors for both criteria are the same in Serbian regulations. Bearing in mind the current largest dimensions of wind turbines on the market, with the greatest height when the propeller is in the vertical position, a buffer zone of 300 m excludes any possible effects of the wind power plant on infrastructure facilities in the future. & [1; 36; 37; 38] & SPRS \\ \hline
6. Distance from power infrastructure corridors (\(<\)300 m) & There is no universal determination of airport zones; rather, they are the subject of special studies for each specific case situated in a possible impact zone that is tentatively defined by the relevant international regulations in the field of aviation. & [4; 23; 39] & [35] \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: Selection of elimination criteria for determining unfavorable and potentially favorable areas for wind farm locations. The corresponding area is determined using GIS tools for each elimination criterion. By overlaying a layer of areas covered by the elimination criteria, unfavorable areas are highlighted (Figure 2), within which the location of wind power plants (shown in red) should not be considered. All other areas on the map, which are outside the areas marked in red, are potentially favorable for locating wind farms, as Figure 2 illustrates for a part of the Republic of Serbia. The elimination phase is particularly important for the strategic level of planning in the field of wind energy at the national or regional level because, in this phase, unfavorable and conditionally favorable areas are identified for a wider area. Immediately ruling out unfavorable areas is of great benefit to investors, since it saves time and resources in the selection process. It is also very useful in countries that are at the very beginning of the development of wind energy, as it provides important initial information about the spatial advantages and limitations of potential areas for the construction of wind farms. The elimination phase also benefits smaller (regional) areas in countries where the development of wind energy is at an advanced stage, and where new potentially favorable areas for further development need to be explored. The next stage is the multi-criteria evaluation of potential wind farm sites in potentially favorable areas. The first step (see Figure 1) is to define the evaluation criteria and determine the weight categories for use in the evaluation process.