An interactive online platform mapping the state of energy access in underserved areas across Africa and Asia. 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.
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.