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About IEA-ETSAP

The Energy Technology Systems Analysis Program (ETSAP) is one of the longest running Technology Collaboration Programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA). ETSAP currently has as contracting parties 21 countries, and one private sector sponsor.

Why choose TIMES

The IEA-ETSAP methodology (the TIMES energy system model) offers elegant solutions for compilation of long term energy scenarios and in-depth national, multi-country, and global energy and environmental analyses. It can assist in the design of least-cost pathways for sustainable energy systems, and is ideally suited for the preparation of Low-Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) roadmaps.

Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Related Applications in non-OECD Countries

An introduction to the TIMES model generator is available via the TIMES-Starter example.

This can be used to explore the capabilities of TIMES at the level of a country starting from the energy balance. The model has been used as a starting point in several countries to underpin their NDC analyses.

IEA-ETSAP Community

The IEA-ETSAP community leads a major initiative for open source solutions for energy scenario modeling needs.

Contracting Parties

Flag of Australia Flag of Belgium Flag of Denmark Flag of Finland
Flag of France Flag of Germany Flag of Greece Flag of Ireland
Flag of Italy Flag of Japan Flag of Kazakhstan Flag of South Korea
Flag of Netherlands Flag of New Zealand Flag of Norway Flag of Russia
Flag of Spain Flag of Sweden Flag of Switzerland Flag of United Kingdom
Flag of United States of America Flag of Enel Foundation

IEA-ETSAP Tool Users (63 countries)



Acquiring IEA-ETSAP tools

The TIMES model generator is available as Open Source under a GNU General Public License v3.0.

News [ARCHIVES]

The third and final workshop on Human dimension and Energy trade in TIMES models will be held at the Luleå University of Technology (LTU) in Sweden the 21st and 22nd of March 2023.

More information available here.


The next IEA-ETSAP workshop will take place on 15th – 16th June 2023 in Golden, Colorado, USA.

Registration is open here. Deadline for the submission of abstracts for presentations in the workshop is the 14th April 2023.


The Annual Report 2020 and 2021 for Annex XV is now available to download.


A TIMES/MIRO app has been developed which can serve as an open-source GUI to TIMES models, published under an open-source license on GitHub.


A new TIMES Cloud Service has been established as part of an R&D project funded by ETSAP spearheaded by DWI, GAMS, and KanORS-EMR.
Please check here for details.

New to ETSAP Meeting Training JobsWebinars
  • CRES
  • CSTEP
  • DTU
  • DWI
  • ECN
  • EDF
  • e4sma
  • EDF2
  • EPA
  • FUJITSU
  • GERAD
  • IAE
  • ICL
  • IFPEN
  • IPTS
  • JRC
  • KEMCO
  • KanORS-EMR
  • NCCS
  • NU
  • PSI
  • RSE
  • TERI
  • UCC
  • UC DAVIS
  • UCL
  • USAID
  • US DOE
  • VITO
  • VTT

Applications

The IEA-ETSAP methodology delivers detailed global energy scenarios

Reliability through detailed analysis

 

You can analyze scenarios for thousands of technologies. In your region of interest & over time periods that matter to you. And the best part is you can know to great detail how the analysis is done.

Manage uncertainties

 

The power of the IEA-ETSAP methodology helps you manage uncertainties confidently. Find answers to questions such as: When is wait and see better than hedging? And how does it compare with classical analysis?

Applications based on the IEA-ETSAP methodology are thorough and reliable

The IEA-ETSAP community is keenly aware of this and therefore the IEA-ETSAP methodology makes it possible for the assumptions to be known in fine detail and the output data to be visualized by well evolved means that make it easy to understand for people who are not researchers themselves.

Though the IEA-ETSAP methodology has the feature that the process can also be understood in great depth by non-technical persons its capabilities are not restricted by it. It can do very fine analysis say for example to compare two scenarios that have only subtle differences.

Global Applications
Regional Applications
National Applications
Local Applications
Reports on Other Applications

Tools

The IEA-ETSAP methodology uses effective & efficient tools that help you work with large volumes of data

Manage Large Data Sets Efficiently

 

The elegant power of the tools is enjoyed by a large number of leading researchers.

Detailed & Credible Representation of Systems

 

You can know how the tools work to a great extent. That makes thorough verification possible and enhances credibility of the research.

Acquiring IEA-ETSAP Tools

The TIMES model generator is available as Open Source under a GNU General Public License v3.0.

The IEA-ETSAP Tools give the methodology an edge

The tools that help researchers implement the IEA-ETSAP methodology are key to its widespread success. The tools help in achieving the twin and potentially conflicting objectives of enabling fine detailing while maintaining high levels of transparency.

This challenging objective is worthwhile to achieve because the IEA-ETSAP methodology is often applied to issues that are critical for the future of our planet. For example for energy production, green house gas emitting technologies and nuclear technologies both have their advantages and disadvantages. Striking the right balance is very important. This can only be done when the tools are capable to working with different scenarios with equal ease.

The efficiency of the tools makes it possible to mitigate the effect of the inherent uncertainties involved. The efficiency of compiling the input data, processing it and interpreting the results makes it possible to relatively quickly evaluate a wide range of scenarios to provide for the uncertainties involved. This makes a confident final decision possible because the effect of uncertainty has been taken into account.

IEA-ETSAP methodology is explicitly designed for long-term energy-environment modeling in the context of climate change. It has a long history of usage so tools have got perfected over the years. The community is large, so tool development has been driven by various types of researchers. The IEA-ETSAP methodology utilizes very flexible tools which can be used in diverse areas.

Model Generator: Markal
Model Generator: Times
Data Handling Shell: Answer
Data Handling Shell: Veda

Technologies

The IEA-ETSAP methodology enables building scenarios around a large number of energy supply & demand technologies

Data for the Entire Energy Ecosystem

 

A deep understanding of both existing and emerging energy technologies. You can use consistent data sets for supply and demand technologies.

Are you an Energy Technology expert?

You can contribute to the ETSAP E-TechDS project by: 1. Reviewing/updating briefs 2. Drafting new briefs 3. Joining as a sponsor. Please contact at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Contributions will be highly appreciated & acknowledged with a free access to all briefs.

Technology Data

 

Are you interested in technical and economic details of (almost 50) energy supply and demand technologies?
Please visit our Technology Data page

The IEA-ETSAP methodology embraces past present & emerging technologies

Understanding and assigning parameters to the various past, existing and emerging technologies can be a big challenge for a person doing energy scenario modeling. A great strength of the IEA-ETSAP methodology is that these technologies have already been well understood and defined in detail. This is in terms of key parameters that are of consequence while doing a research.

This does away with the need to start from scratch while undertaking a study using the IEA-ETSAP methodology. Studies can therefore have lower costs and shorter durations. The details of each technology are available in an open source format so if for a study some parameters need to be changed that is possible as well. This allows the researcher all the flexibility required while maintaining very high levels of convenience.

New technologies are added regularly to the set of technologies and researchers can work on scenarios that involve taking into account recent technological developments.

Supply Technologies
Demand Technologies
Applications
Tools

Training

Learning to use the IEA-ETSAP methodology is easy thanks to the excellent training options

Easy to learn Powerful to use

 

The IEA-ETSAP methodology will swiftly take you to the frontiers of cutting edge research in your area of interest.

Open Source Methodology

 

Get formal and informal support from a large vibrant community.

IEA-ETSAP Methodology Training Worldwide

ETSAP offers training courses on building TIMES energy models with the VEDA or ANSWER users interfaces.

The base training course is offered twice a year next to ETSAP Workshop (dates and location depends from the ETSAP workshop). In the Base level course (3 days) the trainees learn to build a simple TIMES model, to run scenarios and to read the technical economic results.

Each course is free of charge for ETSAP Contracting Parties.

Participants of companies, institutions & universities pay €1200, €1000 & €750 per person per course. Payment is only possible through bank transfer.

Introductory Level Training
Intermediate Level Training
Advanced Level Training
Tools

Workshops

IEA-ETSAP meets twice a year & invites local experts to these meetings

Energy Research at the IER
Grid Expansion under high VRE share using Grid-featured Japan TIMES model

Stuttgart Workshop Highlights

  • Energy Research Program of the German Government
  • Actors’ behaviour analysis in a decentralised energy system: Overview of TIMES-Actors Model and the German supply sector
  • Modelling transport modal shift in TIMES models through elasticities of substitution
  • Implication of transport policies when meeting Swedish climate goals
  • Analysis of different sector coupling paths for CO2 mitigation in the German transport sector
  • Integrated Transport and Energy Modelling
  • The Spine project – Open source toolbox for modelling integrated energy systems
  • Impacts of scenario definitions on CO2 mitigation cost in energy system models
  • Drivers for H2 deployment in medium and short-term in the Portuguese energy system
Stuttgart, November 2018
Gothenburg, June 2018
Zurich, December 2017
Maryland, July 2017
Madrid, November 2016
Cork, May 2016
Sophia Antipolis, Oct 2015

IEA-ETSAP Model Generators Documentation

The IEA-ETSAP methodology is transparent, well documented and respected in scientific literature

Detailed documentation

 

A commitment to the highest levels of transparency. The IEA-ETSAP methodology and applications based on it are well documented.

Innovation Accelerated

 

Innovation spreads faster when it is documented well. The vibrant IEA-ETSAP community is quick to spread a great new idea.

Detailed and lucid documentation enables knowledge to spread efficiently

The IEA-ETSAP methodology is greatly helped by the excellent documentation that is available. This documentation reveals the real world issues that being addressed using the IEA-ETSAP methodology and not just the technical details of the research. This makes the documentation very useful for policy makers who will have the opportunity to review how similar research has been done in the past.

It may also be possible to compare two different approaches to a problem by reviewing the documentation of the past studies. And if an approach has worked well in one part of the world the excellent and reliable documentation makes it possible to use the approach in other parts of the world by making the required changes.

Applications
Tools
Projects
Workshops

IEA-ETSAP Projects

The IEA-ETSAP methodology's capabilities are regularly updated

Outcomes Of The Projects

  • The ETSAP TIMES-Starter Platform
  • VEDA-TIMES Demo Models
  • Transport Modal choice in a TIMES model
  • TIMES-MERGE MACRO linking
  • Incorporating Generation Expansion Planning under Wide-Scale RES Energy Penetration in the TIMES model
  • Attach models with VEDA FE
  • Automating creation of VEDA FE-TIMES models from an Energy Balance

Integrating policy instruments into the TIMES Model

  • Theoretical background on the modelling of policy instruments in energy system models
  • The explicit modelling of support systems for renewable electricity in TIMES
  • The representation of emission trading schemes in national energy system models
  • The Modelling of regulatory instruments and financial incentive measures in the buildings sector
  • Application: Scenario analysis with the TIMES-D model
  • Best Practice Examples

Ongoing Projects

  • The IEA-ETSAP methodology will be able to deliver better global energy modeling scenarios
  • The TIMES model is being enhanced to handle intermittent sources of electricity, like wind and solar
  • Heat and electricity storage mechanisms are being developed further
  • The IEA-ETSAP methodology allows explicit;treatment of uncertainty using stochastic programming
  • Several groups are working on linking TIMES with macroeconomic models
Applications
Tools
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Technology Data
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