A suite of linked and opensource models adapted to Africa

The Horizon Europe Energy project 101118123 – OpenMod4Africa (Open Modelling Toolbox for development of long-term pathways for the energy system in Africa) is a three-year project (2023–2026) about the development of an energy modelling toolbox for analyses of the future energy and power systems in Africa. Furthermore, capacity building in the use of models and further development of the toolbox, among African experts, is a core element in the project.
The main objective is to contribute to an improved and robust understanding of how to develop an energy and a power supply to all Africans by making available, demonstrating and using an open modelling Toolbox. The OM4A Toolbox is populated with a suite of open, integrated, state-of-the-art models and a common database including all necessary data for conducting, among others, scenario building exercises at regional and national level. Two case studies are being conducted to demonstrate the use of the Toolbox, and in addition provide new insights into important challenges related to the energy transition. The research in the project is done in dialogue with two stakeholder groups, one in the Eastern African Power Pool (EAPP) region and one in the Western African Power Pool (WAPP) region.
This deliverable (D3.2) is linked to the release of the Suite of linked and open-source models as part the OM4A Toolbox, developed in deliverable D4.2, now publicly available at africanenergymodels.net. This accompanying report describes the toolbox and explains how users can access the suite of linked, open-source models tailored to the African context. Furthermore, we present and explain the implemented extensions of the models' functionalities as identified in D3.1.
The OM4A Toolbox includes the following six models:
 GENeSYS-MOD, which analyses long-term low-carbon energy transition pathways considering all energy sectors: electricity, buildings, industry, and transport;
 openTEPES, a decision support system for defining the integrated generation, storage, and transmission expansion plan of a large-scale electric system;
 plan4res, a power system model, which includes a capacity expansion module (adaptation of the generation and storage mix as well as of the existing interconnections in a given year), focused on the optimization of the strategies for managing seasonal storages, and the simulation of the system operation. plan4res focuses on electricity;
 InfraFair, which determines the network utilisation by agents (demand and generators using the network) and countries and associated with this, the allocation of the cost of the network among agents or countries;
 OnSSET, a Geographic Information Systems (GIS) based tool that enhances electrification planning and decision-making for the accomplishment of energy access goals in currently unserved areas;
 EV-PV, whose goal is to support electric mobility planning, with a focus on predicting the spatio-temporal charging needs, the number of required charging stations, and the potential for PV energy to cover the charging demand. The model focuses on private passenger mobility. Within the framework of the project, a second model has been developed to also address public transport electrification.
In the previous deliverable 3.1, the functionalities of the current models were assessed concerning the openMod4Africa case studies' specifications. While no modifications to the mathematical modelling or solving algorithms are required for these models to address the relevant analyses at hand in the African context, GENeSYS-MOD, openTEPES, and plan4res needed some adaptations of the processing of input data to represent specifically the deployment of certain technological solutions to address certain energy supply needs. These included improvements in demand-side modelling, particularly for cooking energy demand electrification, and enhancements in network modelling to account for the deployment of off-grid solutions to supply certain demand. As aforementioned, these have been implemented through data workflow updates. Furthermore, model updates included enhanced user support through additional documentation on model use. The installation and scripts were refactored to ensure compatibility with Linux environments, and the integrated workflow was tested by validating the data-processing linkages between GENeSYS-MOD, openTEPES, and plan4res.
InfraFair and OnSSET, already developed for the African context, required no model adaptations. The EV-PV module needed some extensions to include additional passenger transport modes (motorbikes, minibus taxis, regular buses, and rapid transit buses) and an adaptation of the PV potential assessment methodology to local conditions.
This report, for deliverable D3.2, builds upon deliverable 3.1, by discussing the actual development and implementation of the new model functionalities. This report also discusses those main issues encountered during the implementation process and shares lessons learned both during implementation and through interactions with African partners. Furthermore, the report explains how the suite of linked and open-source models adapted to Africa have been made available online to enable new users to easily access these models and use the openMod4Africa toolbox independently for their case studies.