Renewable Energy Geospatial Toolkit (GsT)

Overview
 
The Geospatial Toolkit (GsT) is a free and open source, customizable desktop software application that provides an intuitive, user-friendly interface for visualizing and quantifying a country or region's renewable energy potential.  The GsT is intended to enable users without expertise in Geographic Information Systems to explore renewable energy resource potential in their country or region in order to inform renewable energy targets; evaluate priority sites for future renewable energy investments; and identify tradeoffs and synergies among clean energy, sustainable land use, and other development considerations. The GsT: 1) provides a platform for integrating data on renewable energy resources and the physical or geographic factors that influence their development (such as land use, infrastructure availability, and protected area status); 2) visualizes this data in map-based form; and 3) enables targeted quantitative analysis of solar, wind, and biomass potential under a variety of user-defined scenarios. For each country, the toolkit integrates HOMER, an optimization model for distributed power.
 
There are Geospatial Toolkits available to download for Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Brazil, Cambodia, China, El Salvador, Ghana, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Oaxaca, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Turkey, and Vietnam.
 
Inputs and Outputs 
 
After selecting the toolkit for the country of interest, users may select multiple layers (which include urban areas, transportation networks, transmission lines, land use and elevation, infrastructure, and wind and solar resource data) to place on the country map. The GsT is an open-source application, and users may upload GIS layers to the tool to enable customization. Following the customized queries on the layers of data, users can view results on the country map. Users can zoom and move around the map to explore the renewable energy opportunities for the country.
 
Using the ingrated HOMER tool, queries can also be run to calculate land area and locations that meet certain criteria, such as minimum resource values, proximity to infrastructure, restricted land use, and slope characteristics. By clicking on a location, users can use the underlying resource values to develop a HOMER analysis which simulates renewable energy systems that will meet the loads of pre-designed off-grid loads. The results of the analysis (can be used in the full version of HOMER for more sophisticated users) which includes a cost summary, cost breakdown, annual electric energy production and consumption, and energy output) help investors & policy-makers target areas of renewable energy development.
 
Users may download all data and outputs from the tool for use in other applications.
 
Limitations 
 
Only data that is publicly available is pre-loaded in the GsT – therefore the user may be limited by the available data layers and data resolution for each individual country. The tool does not include land tenure information which could help users understand who manages or owns land in order to better assess the feasibility of acting on potential for renewable energy development. The GsT is not a full GIS suite, as capabilities have been “pre-packaged” to enable ease of use for non-GIS experts.
 
Due to the toolkit's integration with HOMER, the application is only available on Windows platforms.
 
Accessing the tool and additional information
 
Users can access the toolkit here: http://www.nrel.gov/international/geospatial_toolkits.html. The GsT was developed by the U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory. USAID provided funding for the development of toolkits in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Vietnam.
 
Contact
 
Jen Leisch
USAID Global Climate Change Office
climatechange@usaid.gov 
 
Nick Grue
U.S. National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Nick.Grue@nrel.gov