Modellers’ Exchange Workshop: Charting Our Course to 2040 – Decarbonisation Scenarios for Delivering Climate Targets

Highlights

Addressing the urgent global climate and energy crisis has become a paramount objective for UN signatory countries, as underscored by the resolutions of COP 28, which outline tripling global renewables and doubling energy efficiency targets by 2030. To support these goals and align with the Paris Agreement, energy system modelling is a key tool to inform decision-making processes and infrastructure planning.

In this context, the Paris Agreement Compatible (PAC) Scenario explores how significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions to achieving climate neutrality by 2040 can be realised, while modelling the energy infrastructure needed for a sustainable energy transition.

In February 2024, the European Commission introduced its assessment for the EU 2040 climate target. Given the ongoing discussions surrounding this assessment, alongside the EU Action Plan for Grids, the forthcoming 2026 Ten Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP) cycle, and the upcoming European elections, fostering knowledge exchange among experts in energy system modelling and planning is paramount.

Under the umbrella of the Paris Agreement Compatible (PAC) Scenario project, RGI continues its Modellers’ Exchange Workshop series to foster discussions between experts in energy system modelling and planning. On 11 April, energy modelling experts convened to discuss their work related to the implications of the EU’s 2040 climate target on infrastructure development in Europe.

The sessions focused on how different tools assess the trajectory for setting climate targets and how the energy infrastructure can support achieving these goals. The outcomes of the discussions will feed into expert debates related to the TYNDP process and to the proposal of the 2040 target to be included in the European Climate Law.