Training on Energy Access Explorer (EAE)

Energy is a critical service that is highly interconnected with socioeconomic development and human well-being. To effectively expand energy access, government planners need to understand and have access to data and analytical tools that capture key attributes of the unserved and under-served populations they are trying to reach. Although recently developed energy planning tools based on geographic information systems (GIS) focus on identifying technology and investment needs to provide access to unserved areas, these tools currently integrate limited information on aspects of demand.

To this end, World Resources Institute India has developed the Energy Access Explorer (EAE), a data driven, integrated and inclusive approach to planning for the expansion of energy services which accounts for the multi-dimensionality of the energy access challenges. EAE is an online, open-source, interactive, geospatial platform that enables clean energy entrepreneurs, energy planners, donors, and development-oriented institutions to identify high priority areas where energy access can be expanded. Using spatial data to link energy supply with growing or unmet demand is essential to gaining a better picture of energy access and expanding energy services to those who need it the most. EAE synthesizes several geospatial datasets to visualize and analyze demand for energy services and allows users to compare the demand with energy supply. EAE enables all users to generate high resolution multi-criteria decision analysis on-the-fly in order to identify high-priority areas for energy access interventions.

WRI India and Central University of Jharkhand are co-organizing a training session on EAE. This will include the importance of energy access for sustainable development, concepts of energy planning, introduction energy systems models and their gaps and the importance of geospatial planning in the energy access space. We will also introduce EAE and discuss how EAE can be used to provide insights toward a more sustainable energy future for Jharkhand.

Speakers:

• Dr. Prof Devdas Lataa, Head of the Department – Energy, Central University of Jharkhand
• Prof. Arvind Chandra Pandey, Dean -Engineering, Central University of Jharkhand
• Prof. S. K Samdarshi, Energy Department, Central University of Jharkhand
• Dimitrios Mentis, Senior Energy Geographer & Project Lead, Energy Access Explorer, World Resources Institute
• Akansha Saklani, Manager- Energy, World Resources Institute India
• Dheeraj Gupta, Senior Program Associate – Energy, World Resources Institute India
• Abdul Khalid - Program Associate – Energy, World Resources Institute India