Imagine having a digital map that predicts exactly where to put solar panels or power lines to get electricity to the most people for the least money. Instead of paying expensive foreign consultants to do this, this project gives African universities and planners the tools to do it themselves. It's like giving a city planner a high-tech simulator to test different energy futures before spending a cent on construction.
African energy planners currently rely on expensive, external models designed in developed countries that don't fit local needs. This creates a dependency on foreign expertise and slows down the deployment of renewable energy.
An open-source modelling toolbox for energy system analysis. It includes scalable models for cities and countries and a data exchange system for benchmarking results.
If you are a solar developer dealing with high risk in rural areas where 80% of people lack electricity — this project developed a scalable modelling toolbox that helps identify the most competitive locations for stand-alone systems. This reduces the risk of building underperforming assets.
If you are a consultancy dealing with a lack of local data for African regional analyses — this project developed an open toolbox of state-of-the-art models. You can use these to design long-term energy pathways for cities and countries without relying on external developed-country software.
If you are a utility provider dealing with the challenge of expanding national grids to reach 596 million people — this project developed tools to analyze whether grid extension or mini-grids are more cost-efficient. This ensures the most reliable and affordable energy supply for urban and rural areas.
Based on available project data, the toolbox is described as 'open', implying it is developed as an open-source resource rather than a commercial product with a price tag.
Yes, the models are specifically designed to be scalable. They can be applied to individual industries, entire cities, or whole countries.
The project focuses on an 'open Toolbox' and 'open models', suggesting a non-proprietary licensing approach to facilitate capacity building and data exchange.
The project implements a transparent data exchange scheme and sharing system to facilitate benchmarking and result verification across different regions.
The project is active from 2023-07-01 to 2026-06-30, meaning the full toolbox and case study results will be finalized by June 2026.
The consortium is highly diversified with 18 partners across 13 countries, showing a strong commitment to regional integration. While the industry ratio is relatively low at 11% (2 partners), the heavy presence of 8 universities and 4 research centers indicates the project is focused on knowledge transfer and long-term human capital development rather than immediate commercial product launch.
Contact SINTEF ENERGI AS for technical details on the open toolbox
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