IAM COMPACT capacity development workshop in Ethiopia

The IAM COMPACT capacity building workshop "Energy Systems Modelling for Sustainable Development - Ethiopia" took place on January 23-24, physically, at the the conference room of Addis Ababa Institute of Technology (AAiT), Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. 

The workshop aimed to equip participants with the basic energy modelling concepts, advanced energy modelling, and policy insight developments to support data-driven energy planning and policymaking, as well as to enhance the networking of national modellers in Ethiopia. It focused on existing local modelling knowledge and capacity gaps and hence bolsters in promoting fit-for-purpose and sustainable modelling knowledge transfer in our capacity development activities on the selected models. 

The first day, aimed at stakeholders and modelling beginners, focused on the fundamentals of national energy planning, aiming to provide the theoretical basis and applied knowledge of energy system modelling, inform of the policy and the regulatory framework of Ethiopia’s energy sector, and teach how to use scientific results to support evidence-based policy making. It included: 

• a presentation of IAM COMPACT and each modelling ecosystem (NTUA)

• an introduction to energy systems modelling approaches and taxonomy (POLIMI, KTH)

• the model selection framework through a brief overview of commonly used tools in Ethiopia (AAiT)
• demonstration of MicroGridsPy (POLIMI)

• and an introduction to the Global Electrification Platform (POLIMI)

The second day, aimed at advanced modelling users, deepened the concepts of the energy system modelling sessions of Day 1, through using a hands-on project work on a specific modelling tool (OnSSET-MicroGridsPy), whereby the model set-up/update is guided step-by-step with the trainers (POLIMI). It consisted of:

• an introduction to MicroGridsPy, and model linkages of OnSSET-MicroGridsPy (POLIMI)

• and hands-on exercises on OnSSET (POLIMI)

The workshop was organised by host university Addis Ababa Institute of Technology, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Politecnico di Milano, and the National Technical University of Athens. 

It was out initial effort for a continuous dialogue with local stakeholders, in a demand-driven process aiming for a learning-by-doing approach, re-use of teaching and modelling material locally, and production of open-access modelling tools for Ethiopia. The results of this process will be documented in MS6 - Training material on concepts & tools (Feb 2024) and D6.7 - Open-access models for case-study countries (Aug 2024).