Planning

Planning

Long-term planning is central to ensuring that energy policy meets national and regional energy needs, guiding decisions on when, where and how to invest in the energy sector.

Long-term energy planning

While most countries employ well-established approaches towards energy planning, the energy transition is creating a need to re-assess many aspects of planning methodology. Member countries benefit from IRENA’s support to improve their long-term energy planning, with a focus on renewable energy.

  • Long-Term-Planning-support

    Long-term energy planning support

    Long-term energy planning is the process whereby national or regional targets, policies and investment strategies are derived from quantitative analysis of energy sector scenarios, often aided by the modelling of energy systems.
    more
  • Africa-Continental-Masterplan

    Africa Continental Power System Masterplan

    IRENA is a modelling partner for this initiative, led by the African Union Development Agency, to establish a long-term continent-wide planning process.
    more
  • LTES

    Long-term Energy Scenarios Network (LTES)

    The LTES Network is a global platform to exchange knowledge and good practices in the use and development of model-based LTES.
    more

Energy models and tools

Efficient energy planning relies on strong modelling capabilities and methodologies, ensuring that energy decisions are founded on quantitative analysis of the energy sector.

  • SPLAT-Africa

    SPLAT Models for Africa

    These capacity expansion models are a key component in IRENA’s support to African countries and their planning for growing renewables.
    more
  • Model-Ready-Database

    Model-ready datasets for renewables

    Modelling the expansion of power systems requires high resolution in space and time, especially for potentially high levels of renewable resources. With extensive model-ready datasets on renewables, created using open source data, IRENA is addressing the data needs of country power system expansion planners and overall modelling community.
    more
  • Flextool

    Flextool

    FlexTool can analyse system operations using a time resolution aligned with real-world system challenges and provides least-cost optimisation of the generation mix along with flexibility solutions for grids, storage, demand-side response and sector coupling.
    more
  • Bioenergy

    Bioenergy potential assessment

    The bioenergy simulator is a web-based application developed to help policy-makers and project developers estimate bioenergy potential and plan its development over a selected area.
    more

Power system flexibility

The outputs of robust modelling are the building blocks for meaningful analysis, guiding decisions to deliver grid capacity for supply- and demand-side flexibility, and to improve the grid's quality and resilience.

  • Flexibility

    Flexibility

    Advice on how best to leverage flexibility across the energy sector to further accelerate the deployment of renewable energy in the power sector.
    more
  • Flexibility-Assessments

    Flexibility assessments

    To effectively manage large-scale VRE, sources of flexibility need to be planned for and fully exploited across the entire energy system.
    more

Power system operation

  • Grid-Assessment

    Grid assessment studies for LDCs and SIDS

    Grid assessment studies for LDCs and SIDS Grid assessment studies look into how the VRE impact the stability of the system, transient, voltage and frequency. The outcomes show how the system will behave in case of disturbances or unplanned contingencies.
    more