Addressing the impact of climate change on the energy system through innovation

Tackling climate change is one of the biggest challenges of our generation and will change the way the energy system is operated. Find out how we’re working with the Met Office to incorporate the impact of climate change into power system modelling to ensure we can continue to provide Great Britain with secure and reliable energy.

How does climate change impact energy? 

With climate change altering weather patterns, historical data cannot be relied on to plan the country’s future energy needs and forecast the impact weather patterns have on them. 

The relationship between both electricity and gas demand is driven by weather conditions, therefore the ability to accurately forecast these changes is crucial for maintaining energy security. Our innovation project aims to identify the best meteorological data for power system modelling from two weeks ahead to as far as 2035. By integrating advanced meteorological data into our modelling, we can improve our understanding and quantify the potential risks.

The approach

The project consists of four work packages designed to identify where state of the art weather data can be utilised by the energy industry:

1. Stakeholder Engagement: Work with key stakeholders to identify current and future data needs.
2. Literature Review: Conduct a comprehensive literature review to aggregate existing data sources and applications.
3. Gap Analysis: Assess the current datasets against the needs of energy models to identify gaps.
4. Recommendations and Implementation: Provide actionable recommendations on data use and addressing identified gaps.

Through this process, we’ll scope out the range of current and future requirements, identify potential data and information sources, review any limitations or gaps in these data sources, and demonstrate the use of these sources through example case studies.

What are the benefits?

The project aims to provide comprehensive insight into how state-of-the-art weather datasets can be included in power system models. It will clarify data access restrictions and provide suggestions on how to overcome these challenges. There will also be proposals on how to make data accessible through meteorological data providers. Incorporating this data into our modelling will improve the robustness of our security of supply analysis. 

Find out more about the project

Innovation at NESO

Innovation is critical to helping us meet the challenges of transitioning to a zero-carbon future. Everything we do at NESO goes beyond the past and present, looking into the future of the energy system. We’re challenging the status quo, improving on it and providing a different perspective as an independent public organisation. By assessing the impact of climate change, we’re improving our understanding of how and why the system may be affected by different factors to reduce the impacts of increasing system complexity.

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