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The electricity system is encountering significant impacts from climate change. Thus, planning for planning for future extreme weather events and climate change is necessary to achieve a resilient European electricity grid.

This is, however, a complex task, because when looking into future climate scenarios, the impacts on the electricity sector can be both significant and uncertain.

Partnerships between grid and system planners with climate modellers can facilitate the integration of climate information into energy models, where data on predicted future weather can be used as a tool for resilient planning of energy infrastructure.

How can a model of Earth support energy system planning?

RGI, while working together with German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the Aarhus University, contributes to Destination Earth (DestinE) – a European Commission initiative that aims at creating a model version of Earth that monitors and simulates the interactions between human activities and natural phenomena. RGI will engage with energy system modellers and grid operators to ensure the compatibility between the tools to be developed under the Use Case Energy Systems and the users' needs and workflow.

Under the DestinE initiative, several Use Cases will validate how the innovative DestinE tools can enhance the climate change adaptation of different sectors. The Use Case Energy Systems aims at demonstrating the value of DestinE’s enhanced climate and weather models for power system operators seeking accurate, decision-ready data to ensure a reliable, optimised electricity supply to consumers.

More about the project

Destination Earth (DestinE) is a European Commission-funded initiative implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) , the European Space Agency (ESA) and European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites (EUMETSAT)

The Use Case Energy Systems was awarded by ECMWF to the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and its Institute of Networked Energy Systems, the Aarhus University and RGI. The Use Case aims to uplift collaboration between the climate sciences and the energy sector to explore new approaches for data processing, management and computing through open data and open modelling.


PROJECT PARTNERS


“Destination Earth is a European Union funded initiative and is implemented by ECMWF, ESA, and EUMETSAT.”


PROJECT ACTIVITIES


User Perspectives Survey and Workshop

In the beginning of 2024, RGI led two co-creation activities: an online survey and a stakeholder workshop, to showcase and further define the Use Case’s user-oriented developments.

In January and February, RGI and DLR invited energy system modellers and planners to answer an online survey, to give their feedback on the Use Case tools. These tools were co-developed with energy system modelling experts, with the goal of fostering a better integration of climate change information in modelling workflows. Through the survey, the Use Case partners could assess whether different challenges related to integration of this data have been adequately addressed within the Use Case tools, and provide suggestions of further improvements.

On 6 February 2024, RGI organised a hybrid “User Perspectives” workshop, at ENTSO-E offices in Brussels, to discuss future user-oriented developments. A group of more than 30 experts attended the workshop, including energy system modellers representing TSOs or research entities, energy regulators, policy officers, and Earth system modellers. The group of interested stakeholders expressed the benefits of DestinE to their work, as it offers both a platform of collaboration and technical support to understand, and account for, the impacts of climate change.


Presentation during the 2nd DestinE User Exchange Meeting

On 14 November 2023, RGI and DLR were invited to present the Use Case Energy Systems progress and user engagement activities at the 2nd DestinE User Exchange Meeting. This event enabled dialogue between the DestinE initiative partners and stakeholders interested in using DestinE climate data and learning about its progress.

More than 200 participants gathered onsite, with a further 231 registered online, all keen to discover the considerable progress made in the ambitious European Union initiative to build a digital twin of Earth.  Among them, representatives of TenneT joined the 2-day event and engaged in the co-design of climate-energy models!

 


User Needs Workshop: towards co-design of climate-energy models

On 28 February 2023, RGI together with DLR and the Aarhus University organised a “User Needs” workshop on how energy system modellers and operators can enhance the use of climate information in modelling workflows. The hybrid workshop was attended by a group of 40 experts representing several user perspectives, including transmission and distribution system operators, researchers in energy and climate modelling, and representatives of the European Commission. 

Throughout the Use Case Energy Systems, the outcomes of this workshop and the following future collaborations will contribute to the development of tools, meeting user needs, for better representation of climate information in energy models.


RELATED MATERIALS


Read more about Destination Earth and its Use Case Energy Systems


Find out more about RGI Work on Climate Resilience

 


CONTACT


Dr. Ira Shefer
Manager - Energy Systems

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t: +49 30 2332 11000
ira[at]renewables-grid.eu

Dr. Andrzej Ceglarz
Director - Energy Systems

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t: +49 30 233211014
andrzej[at]renewables-grid.eu

RGI gratefully acknowledges the EU LIFE funding support:

EU LIFE funding support Logo

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the LIFE Programme. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.