What We Do

Energy Access Explorer is the first, open-source, online and interactive geospatial platform that enables energy planners, clean energy entrepreneurs, donors, and development institutions to identify high-priority areas for energy access interventions. EAE functions also as a dynamic information system, reducing software engineering and data transaction costs for both data providers and users and facilitating data management and governance.

Who are the primary audiences of Energy Access Explorer?

Energy planning agencies

can use the platform to explore the potential for grid extension, off-grid systems, clean cooking technologies and renewables for energy access in their countries.

Clean energy enterprises

can use the platform to access demographic and socio-economic data, which indicate consumer ability to pay for energy services. This information can help identify gaps in market opportunities.

Donors and Development Finance Institutions

can use the platform to identify areas where grants and support will have the most impact

Service delivery institutions

in the health, education, productive use of energy, agriculture sectors can use the platform to get a better understanding of energy needs associated to development services.

Clean Cooking Sector

Organizations and agencies can use the platform to identify areas where the uptake of clean cooking technologies should be prioritized based on location specific data on demand, supply, and environment.

Methodology

Energy Access Explorer synthesizes and analyzes more than 50 geographic data sets (per geography) on both energy supply and demand. It runs multi-criteria analysis that uses location-specific resource availability and infrastructure data to represent energy supply. It also incorporates demographic data and data on social and productive uses to visualize demand for energy services. Together, these supply and demand indicators enable more comprehensive energy planning. Spatial analysis tools, including multi-criteria analysis, overlays, filters, buffer zones help users identify and prioritize areas where energy access can be expanded.

The tool incorporates remote sensing data as well as data from global, national, sub-national and census databases that are either publicly available or provided by international partners and local stakeholders. It can host data available in various resolutions, scales and formats allowing for better or new datasets to be incorporated once available. The selection of data is based on literature review, a survey WRI conducts on the importance of certain datasets in geospatial energy access planning and user feedback. The list of essential data is reviewed by local stakeholders to ensure the platform is relevant and applicable in the local context.


Open Data

World Resources Institute is committed to transparency and open data. Energy Access Explorer is a research initiative led by World Resources Institute. Partners and local stakeholders contribute to the development and update of the platform. To learn more about Energy Access Explorer, inquire regarding data sources, or provide feedback, contact our team at energyaccessexplorer@wri.org.

All the products, methodologies and datasets that make up Energy Access Explorer are available subject to the Terms of Use. While analyses are compiled with various data sources, the details about the original data sources are available by hovering over the data list on the left of the screen and clicking on the information symbol “i” that appears. This information will include links to the original data. See also instructions under Attribution Requirements.

If you use this platform, partially or entirely, you must follow the attribution requirements.