Starter Data Kits: start modelling sooner; more easily & with more models

[Mark Howells]

Dear Open-Modders:

The U4RIA Starter Data Kits provide free, model-ready datasets for building a first energy-system model and testing scenarios (Climate Compatible Growth 2026a). Ideal to get a national model going - or pass onto get your students going!

Each kit is shaped for its modelling tool and draws on sources including the World Bank and International Energy Agency; users should replace default values when better local data is available (Climate Compatible Growth 2026a).

The latest kits add wider coverage, clear source attribution and geospatial data, making analyses easier to check, reproduce and improve (Climate Compatible Growth 2026a).

Explore kits for OnSSET, OnStove, NISMOD, MAED, OSeMOSYS and CLEWs—a lively family of tools covering electrification, clean cooking, infrastructure, energy demand and linked climate–land–energy–water systems (Climate Compatible Growth 2026a; Energy Modelling Community 2026).

Start here: https://starter-data-kit.github.io/

Everyone is welcome to learn, ask questions and share improvements through the U4RIA Energy Modelling Community forum (Climate Compatible Growth 2026b).

Join the forum: https://forum.u4ria.org/

Best, Mark

P.S. A special shout-out to Georgios Avgerinopoulos, whose Model Development Infrastructure helped shape the OSeMOSYS-ready data and structured CLEWs workflows used by the SDKs. Developed with Annie Flint Smith, Kavya Abeysundara and Mark Howells, the MDI makes integrated modelling more consistent, accessible and reproducible (Avgerinopoulos et al. 2026).

References

Avgerinopoulos, G., Flint Smith, A., Abeysundara, K. and Howells, M. (2026) ‘Advancing methodological consistency in CLEWs modelling: Introducing the Model Development Infrastructure’, Cambridge Open Engage, Engineering, Working Paper, Version 2, posted 19 March. Available at: https://www.cambridge.org/engage/coe/article-details/69b7e114d1922e37d5905d3d (Accessed: 23 July 2026).

Climate Compatible Growth (2026a) Energy and Transport Starter Data Kits. Climate Compatible Growth, ‘Latest update’ and ‘Key features’ sections. Available at: https://climatecompatiblegrowth.com/international-partnerships/data-and-tools/starter-kits/ (Accessed: 23 July 2026).

Climate Compatible Growth (2026b) Energy Modelling Community. Climate Compatible Growth, ‘EMC Forum’ section. Available at: https://climatecompatiblegrowth.com/international-partnerships/capacity-building/energy-modelling-community/ (Accessed: 23 July 2026).

Energy Modelling Community (2026) The Energy Modelling Community. Forum categories and model descriptions. Available at: https://forum.u4ria.org/ (Accessed: 23 July 2026).

Mark Howells (Prof)

Director ClimateCompatibleGrowth.com see a quick video intro here
Joint Director STEER Centre, Loughborough University

Principal Research Fellow, Centre for Environmental Policy, Imperial College

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