Imagine trying to build a power plant without knowing if there is enough water for cooling or if the local farms will lose their irrigation. This tool acts like a giant digital map that shows how energy, water, and food all lean on each other. It helps planners pick the best spots for green energy without accidentally hurting other vital resources.
Energy developers in Africa often ignore the ripple effects their projects have on water and food security, leading to project failure or local opposition. There is a lack of accessible, data-driven tools to predict these inter-sector conflicts.
An open-source modelling toolkit that simulates the interaction between water, energy, and food sectors using satellite and statistical data.
If you are a developer dealing with site selection risks in Africa — this project developed an open source modelling tool that predicts how new energy plants affect local water and food supplies. This ensures your project is resilient to climate change and accepted by local communities.
If you are a consultancy dealing with complex environmental impact assessments — this project developed a toolkit using Earth Observation data from Copernicus and ESA. This allows you to provide evidence-based recommendations for decarbonizing existing energy plants.
If you are an infrastructure firm dealing with water scarcity for irrigation — this project developed a multi-sectoral assessment tool. It helps you plan energy-powered water management systems that don't compete with local food production.
The project specifies that the model will be totally open source, suggesting it will be available for use without a licensing fee.
Based on available project data, the tool is being tested across 3 representative river basins (Songwe, Inkomati-Usuthu, and Niger), indicating a design meant for regional and national scaling.
The project objective explicitly states the model will be totally open source to encourage future upgrades.
It integrates Earth Observation data from sources like Copernicus, ESA, or GEOSS, as well as statistical data from river basins.
The project period runs from 2022-11-01 to 2026-04-30, meaning the final refined tools will be available by April 2026.
The consortium is heavily weighted toward research and academia, with 5 universities and 3 research institutes. However, it maintains a practical edge with 2 industrial partners and 1 SME, resulting in a 17% industry ratio. The geographic spread is impressive, covering 10 countries across Europe and Africa, which ensures the tool is grounded in local African realities.
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Contact us to get early access to the open-source nexus modelling toolkit for African energy markets.
