An Integrated Geospatial Data Platform for Energy Planning and Analysis in South Wales

To address this challenge, a proof-of-concept geospatial multi-energy data platform was developed for South Wales, United Kingdom, using a geographical information system (GIS).

This data resource combines open and licensed datasets covering electricity and gas networks, energy demand (gas, electricity and heat), LCT uptake (e.g. solar photovoltaic farms, electric vehicles, heat pumps and electrical energy storage units), power plants, transport infrastructure

(rail and road networks) and information of the building stock in the region.

The methodology to build the platform involved collecting a wide range of spatially resolved energy data, available in different formats and from diverse sources. The collected datasets were processed into a homogenised format to ensure cross-compatibility. The homogenised datasets were then incorporated into an open-source GIS software for visualisation and analysis. Such an approach enables platform users to selectively activate GIS data layers and overlay interdependent datasets. Data of interest can be exported to modelling environments for building energy simulations, multi-energy network integration studies, and optimisation of flexibilities such as electric vehicle charging, gas network line pack and thermal energy storage for electricity network congestion management.

Workshops were conducted with industrial, commercial and academic stakeholders to inform the development of the platform. The workshops facilitated identifying challenges and use cases, with participants emphasising the need for machine readable datasets as an essential step towards cross-sector collaboration.

The platform demonstrates how integrated geospatial data can support regional energy planners, utilities and large site owners by improving data accessibility and enabling a whole system approach for studying net-zero pathways. To illustrate this, three use cases are presented. The first use case demonstrates how the limited availability of gas networks in rural areas may lead to electricity demand hotspots and less flexibility assets available to defer grid upgrades. The second use case shows how LCT uptake is dependent upon network constraints and where flexible resources could aid the rapid deployment of LCTs in regions with network constraints.

The third use case includes the development of a dedicated version of the platform for a large holiday resort located in South Wales. This dedicated platform supports the decarbonisation planning of the site, unlocking grid flexibility services through aggregation and harmonisation of data from different departments, and retention of critical knowledge of the site’s energy infrastructure that may otherwise be lost with staff turnover.