Partner: TransitionZero
Grant amount: $5.18M over 4 years (2021–2025)

Overview

TransitionZero is a climate tech non-profit that provides energy system modelling data, software and analysis to support energy transition planning.

The team envisions a world where all governments can leverage system modelling to plan efficiently and effectively, transforming their economies with clean, affordable, and reliable energy.

The challenge

Many governments are missing opportunities in the global energy transition due to the inaccessibility of energy system modelling. Consultancy studies often take months or years, missing key political windows for policy making, and each study incurs additional costs and time. Commercial software providers require extensive training or the hiring of data expertise, leading to incomplete or inadequate planning through spreadsheets or bespoke tools. These methods are hard to integrate, have limited performance, lack traceability, and require skilled data professionals to maintain.

Strategic approach

TransitionZero works with governments to:

1. Build and expand knowledge and skills in energy system modelling.
2. Understand the opportunities associated with using energy system software.
3. Develop the mindset to use software for energy transition planning confidently.

 TransitionZero works at multiple levels throughout the planning and investment process to achieve deep and long-lasting change, enabling governments and their stakeholders to use system modelling for energy transition planning decisions effectively.

This includes:

• Open data: TransitionZero combines advanced data science and market expertise to produce open-access datasets that support accurate scenarios and forecasts.
• Modelling software: TransitionZero is developing system modelling software that enables governments and their stakeholders to build scenarios via an API and a no-code web UI.
• Analysis and training: TransitionZero provides content and training to build knowledge, enabling governments and their stakeholders to use energy system modelling software for transition planning.
• Climate TRACE: TransitionZero is a founding member of Climate TRACE, a coalition of nonprofits providing an independent inventory of GHG emissions.

Recent results

• Solar Asset Mapper (TZ-SAM): TZ-SAM contains over 19,000 km² of solar farms, across 182 countries, with a total estimated capacity of 705 GW, providing three times the coverage of smaller facilities than incumbent, publicly available datasets. TZ-SAM is updated quarterly and supports more accurate scenarios and forecasts by filling gaps in traditional solar asset reporting methods.
• Coal Asset Transition (CAT) Tool: CAT estimates the cost of renegotiating power purchase agreements for coal-fired power plants. CAT is available for Indonesia and the Philippines, with other countries in development.
• Climate TRACE: TransitionZero provides emissions estimates for electricity, steel, cement, aluminium, pulp and paper, and chemicals sectors.

Partnerships for scale: TransitionZero partners with mission-driven organisations to scale the use of our data and software. The list of partners includes ClientEarth, World Resources Institute (WRI), Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI), the Vulnerable Twenty (V20) Group of Ministers of Finance of the Climate Vulnerable Forum (CVF), UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), Climate Compatible Growth Initiative (CCG), Sustainable Energy for All (SEforAll), Powering Past Coal Alliance (PPCA), the Coal Asset Transition Accelerator (CATA), the Energy Transition Council (ETC) and Climate TRACE.

Key outcomes

• Modelling software is adopted by analysts working for, or working closely with, government agencies. For example, TransitionZero's modelling software is being used by the V20 CVF, including supporting modelling for Climate Prosperity Plans (CPPs) for Ghana, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, among others. Likewise, the Philippines Department of Energy is using its data, software and analysis for energy transition planning decisions.
• 500 organisations, including government departments, renewable developers, asset managers, energy consultancies and media companies are using TZ-SAM to keep track of the rapid growth in solar power.
• Tools used by international business media. TZ-SAM data has helped journalists to visualise the rapid global growth of solar energy and has been featured in international business media outlets, including The Economist and New York Times.

Impact

• Informing diplomacy. TransitonZero’s analysis has informed the very highest levels of China-US climate diplomacy; "I was able to get John Kerry 20 copies in Mandarin, which he handed over to Xie Zhenhua … and the statements this morning by President Xi Jinping may have reflected some of that analysis. I believe it did.” – Al Gore, Former U.S. Vice President.
• Helping governments make better decisions. TransitionZero's modelling software and responsive analysis is being used by the Philippines Department of Energy, working hand-in-hand with the Philippines government to support its Energy Transition Plan in partnership with Client Earth.
• Supporting energy planning in the Global South. TransitionZero’s modelling software is being used by the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change (TBI) to drive energy transition planning decisions in the Global South.
• Securing climate-aligned electricity plans in Southeast Asia. TransitionZero aims to have its data and modelling supporting half of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) member states as they compile climate-aligned electricity plans, by mid-2026.
• Influencing supply chains with cutting-edge technology. Tesla, Boeing and General Motors are using Climate TRACE’s steel productivity and emissions data to inform their supply chain decisions. The algorithms underpinning the development of Climate TRACE, were also listed in Time Magazine's The Best 100 Inventions of 2020.

Looking ahead

TransitionZero aims to become the industry standard for energy transition planning data and software globally. By 2025, TransitionZero intends to see governments representing 15% of the global population using its tools for energy transition planning – and in that way, it is speeding the energy transition to create a world in which clean energy is affordable and dependable for all.