Open energy system databases
Permissive licenses like Creative Commons CC0 and CC BY are preferred, but some projects will house data made public under market transparency regulations and carrying unqualified copyright.
The first is a wish to reduce the duplication of effort that accompanies each new analytical project as it assembles and processes the data that it needs from primary sources.
[3] Better transparency dictates the use of open information, able to be accessed and scrutinized by third-parties, in addition to releasing the source code for the models in question.
[8] In terms of open data, a 2017 paper concludes that energy research has lagged behind other fields, most notably physics, biotechnology, and medicine.
[9]: 211–213 A one-page opinion piece from 2017 advances the case for using open energy data and modeling to build public trust in policy analysis.
The article also argues that scientific journals have a responsibility to require that data and code be submitted alongside text for peer review.
Open energy database projects generally try to develop and adhere to well resolved data models, using de facto and published standards where applicable.
[12] Database rights not waived by public sector providers significantly restrict the amount of data a user can lawfully access.
A December 2017 submission by energy researchers in Germany and elsewhere highlighted a number of concerns over the re-use of public sector information within the Europe Union.
The IEC Common Information Model (CIM) defines data exchange protocols for low and high voltage electricity networks.
Data collected by the International Energy Agency (IEA) is widely quoted in policy studies but remains nonetheless paywalled.
Dedicated projects to collect, collate, document, and republish energy system datasets have arisen to service this need.
The OpenStreetMap project, which uses the Open Database License (ODbL), contains geographic information about energy system components, including transmission lines.
[18] Wikimedia projects such as Wikidata and Wikipedia have a growing set of information related to national energy systems, such as descriptions of individual power stations.
[19] The Climate Compatible Growth (CCG) programme provides starter kits for the following 69 countries: Algeria, Angola, Argentina, Benin, Botswana, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cambodia, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Chile, Colombia, Côte d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Ecuador, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Eswatini, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Lesotho, Liberia, Libya, Malawi, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Mozambique, Myanmar, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Republic of Congo, Republic of Korea, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, South Sudan, Sudan, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Togo, Tunisia, Uganda, Uruguay, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
A number of download formats, including GIS files, are supported: CSV, XLS, XLSX, ArcGIS, Esri, GeoJSON, KML, and SHP.
The site offers electricity system datasets under a Creative Commons CC BY 2.0 compatible license, with metadata, an RSS feed for notifying updates, and an interface for submitting questions.
The Portal offers electricity network datasets under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 compatible license, with metadata, a newsfeed, and a data request form.
A number of download formats, including GIS files, are supported: CSV, XLS, GeoJSON, KML, and SHP.
[32][33] The project later received funding for a second phase, from January 2018 to December 2020, with ETH Zurich replacing Flensburg University as a partner.
From October 2018, each new or revised data package is assigned a unique DOI to ensure that external references to current and prior versions remain stable.
In order to build a community around the platform, a number of forums are offered covering energy system data and related topics.
The project maintains a website and a Facebook page and provides an Android mobile app to help the public document electrical devices, such as transformers and substations.
[52][53] OpenGridMap provides a tailored GIS web application, layered on OpenStreetMap, which contributors can use to upload and edit information directly.
Once sufficient data is available, the transnet software is run to produce a likely network, using statistical correlation, Voronoi partitioning, and minimum spanning tree (MST) algorithms.
Power Explorer is also supported by Google with various research partners, including KTH, Global Energy Observatory, Enipedia, and OPSD.
[48]: 41 [60][61] reegle was launched in 2006 by REEEP and REN21 with funding from the Dutch (VROM), German (BMU), and UK (Defra) environment ministries.
reegle maintains a comprehensive structured glossary (driven by an LOD-compliant thesaurus) of energy and climate compatible development terms to assist with the tagging of datasets.
[70][71][72][73][74][75][76] The SMARD site (pronounced "smart") serves electricity market data from Germany, Austria, and Luxembourg and also provides visual information.
The data portal is mandated under the German Energy Industry Act (Energiewirtschaftsgesetz or EnWG) section §111d, introduced as an amendment on 13 October 2016.
