Leveraging Open Data and Analytics toward Universal Access: New Open Source Tool Supports Better Electrification Planning
20 July 2017
View Webinar Content
Presentation—Introduction to the webinar and panelists
Transcript—Webinar audio transcript
See Also
Electrification Pathways Application
Blog: Electrification Planning Made Easier with New Open Source Tool
Press release: New Open Source Tool a “Breakthrough” in Electrification Planning
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The Clean Energy Solutions Center, in partnership with the World Bank and KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, hosted this webinar on the Electrification Pathways application.
When assessing how best to expand energy access, officials need to know where people are, what kind of electricity access they may already have, how close they are to low-, medium-, and high-voltage lines, and more. This is a difficult and costly analysis in countries where electricity utility providers do not have a clear picture of their networks and where data is hard to come by. Now, a new open source, web-based application aims to change that by cutting down the cost and time involved in electrification planning and informing universal access strategies.
This webinar introduced the Electrification Pathways application. The tool considers a variety of publicly available data to determine the least-cost options for bringing electricity to areas as small as one-square kilometer. Developed by the World Bank, KTH and ESMAP, the tool will be hosted in ENERGYDATA.INFO with data on three countries—Tanzania, Zambia, and Nigeria—and can be adapted for more.
In addition to an overview of the tool, the discussion will delve in to the role of GIS in electrification planning and other open data and analytics tools in the energy space.
ENERGYDATA.INFO is a new open data and analytics resource for governments, investors, companies, development organizations, and others working to accelerate affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all. With more than 280 data sets and 14 partner organizations so far, the growing online platform is a place to both share and make use of energy-relevant data and analytics for greater impact.
Webinar presentations were followed by a question and answer session with the audience.
Panelists
Dimitris Mentis
Dimitris Mentis is a lead researcher at the division of Energy Systems Analysis at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. His work focuses on linking geographic information systems (GIS) and electricity planning to estimate investment and capacity needs to provide access to electricity to the unserved. Dimitris together with colleagues has developed an innovative Open Source Spatial Electrification Tool (OnSSET) in collaboration with the International Energy Agency (IEA), United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UNDESA), World Bank and ABB.
Yann Tanvez
Yann Tanvez is an energy specialist at the World Bank. His work focuses on energy access strategies globally and large scale renewable energy investments in sub-Saharan Africa. Yann also leads the World Bank energy practice open data and analytics program, which is aimed at leveraging data innovations towards accelerating progress towards universal access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy.