Search

Energy planning in rural areas and in developing countries most often relies on the outputs of specialized analytical tools, of which only a handful have been developed. Over the years these tools have been upgraded, and the newest among them take into consideration, to a greater or lesser extent, all key determinants of energy generation and distribution. This article focuses on a “pool” of web‐based geo‐referencing open‐source tools and highlights the extent to which each analytical tool reflects the particularities of the various determinants of energy generation and distribution. In doing so, the present work identifies aspects of the tools that need to be strengthened. Building on this information, the article further maps the suitability of each tool with regard to calculating (at a local level) the six Sustainable Development Goal indicators that are closely related to energy. This makes it possible to draw conclusions about monitoring needs in study‐areas. Bringing together these two sets of findings, the article concludes with a research agenda for analytical tool development in the area of energy planning, which spills over developmental agendas. This article is categorized under: Energy and Development > Systems and InfrastructureEnergy and Development > Economics and Policy Electrification planning in rural areas and in developing countries most often relies on the outputs of specialised analytical tools that support geographically‐referenced analyses. The study reviews the handful of existing tools, to explore the extent to which the outputs of these tools can help to establish calculate energy‐ and climate‐related indicators that are relevant to assess the implementation of United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals. The results highlight gaps in knowledge, monitoring needs and trends across existing tools

The cover image is based on the Overview Next generation interactive tool as a backbone for universal access to electricityby Magda Moner‐Girona et al., DOI: 10.1002/wene.305. © EU, by Grégoire Dubois. The cover image is based on the Overview Next generation interactive tool as a backbone for universal access to electricityby Magda Moner‐Girona et al., DOI: 10.1002/wene.305. © EU, by Grégoire Dubois.