Updates from the growing open-source energy modelling community – especially in Africa
Mark Howells
Happy Friday – Open Modelling Maestros,
The Energy Modelling Platform for Africa (EMP-A) is now in its 7th year and continues to expand. The African Energy Community High-Level Meeting just wrapped up, hosted by African Energy Futures together with the RSA Presidential Climate Commission and Climate Compatible Growth. What stands out most is the strong African leadership driving the event, with excellent contributions from partners including the IMF, TransitionZero, Tufts, Imperial College, and many others.
A highlight: more than 10 African universities have now established open-source energy modelling curricula, training the next generation of local experts.
The meeting includes dedicated tracks for training, engagement, and collaborative model development. It builds directly on open-source energy models created by organizations such as SEforAll, the World Bank Group, IAEA, Politecnico di Milano, Tufts, KTH, Imperial, World Resources Institute, UNDESA, UNDP, and several more.
If you're interested in the discussions and outputs, check out the proceedings and related posts on the African Energy Futures LinkedIn page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/african-energy-futures/posts/?feedView=all
At the same time, applications are open for the Global Energy Modelling Platform (EMP-G) – now in its 10th year – hosted by UNESCO-ICTP in Trieste, Italy. This is a fantastic opportunity for groups in developing countries (especially in the Global South) to build hands-on capacity in energy system modelling. Participants learn open-source tools, work on real country case studies, and leave equipped to apply these skills in national energy and climate policy work. Many past attendees have gone on to use what they learned directly in government planning and decision-making.
Details and application link (deadline soon): https://indico.ictp.it/event/11151
There's exciting momentum building in this space – more news on that front coming soon.
For those already using the no-code interface MUIO (Modelling User Interface for OSeMOSYS), a fresh update is out with improvements to performance, user experience, and various bug fixes. Thanks to the dev team for the solid work – it makes modelling more accessible for everyone.
Latest on GitHub: https://github.com/OSeMOSYS/MUIO
Related LinkedIn post: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/github-osemosysmuio-share-7436734563739078656-O0K1
(Apologies for the LinkedIn links – with OSeMOSYS now at over 5,000 followers there, it's proving the quickest way to share updates widely and keep things open and reachable.)
Best regards,
Mark