High-resolution working layouts and time series for renewable energy generation in Europe

• Published in: Renewable energy 2025-02, Vol.239, p.121967, Article 121967
• Main Authors: Grothe, Oliver, Kächele, Fabian, Wälde, Mira
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Electricity grid; Renewable energy capacity layout; Renewable generation; Solar power; Weather-to-energy conversion; Wind power
• ISSN: 0960-1481
• DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2024.121967

The stability and manageability of power systems with a growing share of renewable energies depend on accurate forecasts and feed-in information. This study provides synthetic wind and solar power generation time series for approximately 1,500 European transmission nodes in hourly resolution from 2019 to 2022, along with data-driven layouts of renewable generator allocations. To create these time series and layouts, we develop weather-to-energy conversions using high-resolution weather data. Based on the conversions and elastic-net optimisation, the layouts, which we refer to as working layouts, represent a theoretical allocation of generators within each country that produces the current (or alternatively any historical) observed energy output characteristics based on the weather data. This work provides the necessary code to update and adapt layouts and time series for use in custom applications. •Weather-to-energy conversions are used to generate a comprehensive data set for renewable energy sources in mainland Europe.•An elastic-net approach generates realistic allocations of onshore wind, offshore wind and PV capacity.•The data set includes estimated layouts of installed capacity for mainland Europe.•The data set includes estimated time series of renewable energy generation.•The method and model are freely available and can be tailored to individual needs.•The approach can be used to generate results for specific time horizons.