Dear PyPSA community,
PyPSA v1.0 is finally peeking over the horizon, and with it comes another user meeting!
We are excited to announce the third PyPSA User Meeting on July 2, 2025: 10 am - 12:30 pm (CEST)! Again, various lightning talks will be presented, followed by a brief overview of the new capabilities in PyPSA 1.0 and some room for discussions.
What to do?
- Register here for the online event: Zoom Registration (Link)
- Propose your lightning talk: Closed
Updated Agenda
| Time | Presenter | Topic |
|---|---|---|
| 10:00 | PyPSA Team | PyPSA team welcomes all participants |
| 10:05 | Tom Adams Haast Energy |
Nodal and Quasi-Zonal Approaches to Modelling the Australian National Electricity Market |
| 10:18 | Stefan Krickl TU MĂĽnchen |
PyPSA meets BZR data |
| 10:31 | Lukas Franken Uni Edinburg, Octopus Energy |
Risk and Reward of Transitioning from a National to a Zonal Electricity Market in Great Britain |
| 10:44 | Arizeo Salac DESTEC, UniversitĂ di Pisa |
A PyPSA-PH Case Study: Will Hydrogen ever have a role on Grid and Off-grid Island Electrification? |
| 10:57 | Wouter Koks Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) |
Modelling short-term power markets (flow-based market coupling, intraday and redispatch) |
| 11:10 | Break | |
| 11:20 | Daniel RĂĽdt Open Energy Transition |
Open TYNDP with PyPSA |
| 11:33 | Xinyang Che Xi’an Jiaotong University, King’s College London |
Assess Space-Based Solar Power for European-Scale Power System Decarbonization |
| 11:46 | Lukas Jansen Fraunhofer-Institut for Energy Economics and Energy System Technologies |
PyPSA-RSA-Sec: Open Source Modelling of Defossilisation and Power-to-X Allocation Scenarios for South Africa |
| 12:00 | PyPSA Team | News on PyPSA v1.0 |
| 12:15 | Breakout rooms |
Abstracts
1. Tom Adams (Haast Energy): Nodal and Quasi-Zonal Approaches to Modelling the Australian National Electricity Market
At Haast we currently run two PyPSA models to forecast dispatch, constraint and price in the Australian NEM (National Electricity Market). One model is nodal with around 400 nodes, one for each substation, and n-1 thermal constraints are calculated implicitly by PyPSA. The other is quasi-zonal with five nodes, one per state, and constraints supplied by the market operator. This talk covers the strengths and weaknesses of both approaches.
2. Stefan Krickl (TU MĂĽchen): PyPSA meets BZR data
This talk presents the journey of recreating the ENTSO-E Bidding Zone Review results using the CGMES data format and the PyPSA modeling framework. I will share key steps and challenges encountered while translating grid data and input data into a functional PyPSA model, highlight the importance of data quality, and demonstrate that building actionable power system models from raw CGMES data in PyPSA is both possible and insightful.
3. Lukas Franken (Uni Edinburgh, Octopus Energy): Risk and Reward of Transitioning from a National to a Zonal Electricity Market in Great Britain
More spatially granular electricity wholesale markets promise more efficient operation and better asset siting in highly renewable power systems. Great Britain is considering moving from its current single-price national wholesale market to a zonal design. Such a reform, however, is argued by stakeholders to entail two forms of risk. First, transitional risk arises in that existing generators located in the north of GB would incur substantial revenue losses as their local wholesale prices reduce relative to a national price. Second, potential increased hedging complexity is argued to weaken the investment case for new generation by raising the cost of capital. This “permanent” increase of risk could potentially diminish the welfare gains zonal pricing aims to unlock. Existing studies reach varying and difficult-to-reconcile conclusions about the desirability of a zonal market in GB, partly because they rely on models that vary in their transparency and assumptions about future power systems. Using a novel opensource electricity market model, calibrated to match observed network behaviour, this article quantifies consumer savings, unit-level producer surplus impacts, and broader socioeconomic benefits that would have arisen had a six-zone market operated in Great Britain during 2022–2024. Regarding transitional risk, in the absence of mitigating policies, it is estimated that during those three years GB consumers would save approximately £9.4/MWh (equalling an average of more than £2.3B per year), but most renewable and nuclear generators in northern regions would experience revenue reductions of 30–40%. Policy interventions can restore these units’ national market revenues to up to 97% while still preserving around £3.1/MWh in consumer savings (about £750M per year). Regarding the “permanent” increase of risk, it is estimated that the current system could achieve approximately £380–£770 million in annual welfare gain during 2022–2024 through improved operational efficiency alone. The drivers behind these benefits, notably wind curtailment volumes, are expected to become more pronounced towards 2030, suggesting that purely operationally achieved annual benefits of around £1-2 billion beyond 2029 are highly likely. It is found that the scale of these benefits would outweigh the potential downsides related to increases in the cost of capital that have been estimated elsewhere.
4. Arizeo Salac (DESTEC, UniversitĂ di Pisa): A PyPSA-PH Case Study: Will Hydrogen ever have a role on Grid and Off-grid Island Electrification?
The energy transition in archipelagic nations like the Philippines faces major hurdles due to the difficulty of connecting remote islands to the national grid. To address this, we developed the first open-source, high-resolution power system model for the Philippines using PyPSA and publicly available data. Covering demand and renewable resource projections through 2050, the model enables exploration of sector coupling—particularly with hydrogen—to support island electrification, renewable integration, and reduced fossil fuel reliance.
5. Wouter Koks (Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU): Modelling short-term power markets (flow-based market coupling, intraday and redispatch)
We developed two connected models using PyPSA.
Firstly, an intraday model that contains the three auctions in the European market. The model uses input from a long-term hydropower model focused on the Nordics. It simulates the process of forecast improvements closer to delivery time to find how wind forecast updates influence intraday market volumes and prices in different auction stages. Furthermore this model contains a detailed description of the power system in Norway, which is used in a subsequent redispatch step.
Secondly, a general flow-based market coupling module for PyPSA networks. The module implements the relevant constraints and contains useful tools for determining parameters such as generation shift keys.
6. Daniel RĂĽdt (Open Energy Transition): Open TYNDP with PyPSA
This talk will introduce the Ten-Year Network Development Plan (TYNDP) and the Open TYNDP research and innovation project which is a collaboration between Open Energy Transition (OET) and the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E). The project’s aim is to explore and consider the adoption of PyPSA in the TYNDP by building a workflow based on PyPSA-Eur. It seeks to complement the proprietary tools currently used in the TYNDP cycles, especially for Scenario Building and Cost-Benefit Analysis. This approach is designed to enhance transparency and lower barriers to stakeholder participation in European energy planning. Beyond Europe, the project aspires to demonstrate the viability of open-source frameworks in energy planning, encouraging broader global adoption.
To build trust in and ensure reproducibility with the new open-source toolchain, the project first focuses on replicating key figures from the 2024 TYNDP cycle, before aligning with the current 2026 TYNDP cycle. This process involves developing new features within the open-source domain to address existing gaps, integrating tools for data interoperability and dynamic visualizations, and publishing best practices to encourage the adoption of open energy models. Additionally, the project emphasizes stakeholder consultations and interactive workshops alongside the development of the PyPSA tool, further promoting collaboration and transparency throughout the process.The project’s open source repository will be show-cased during the talk, together with some of the features which have already been developed. The next steps of the project and an indicative timeline for them will also be presented.
7. Xinyang Che (Xi’an Jiaotong University, King’s College London): Assess Space-Based Solar Power for European-Scale Power System Decarbonization
Meeting net-zero targets is challenging as terrestrial renewables face intermittency and regional constraints. Here we assess space-based solar power, a near-constant source, using a high-resolution, Europe-wide capacity-expansion and dispatch model (PyPSA). We assess two advanced designs: (1) a near-baseload, low-TRL (technology readiness level) heliostat design and (2) a partially intermittent, higher-TRL planar design, using NASA’s 2050 data. We find the heliostat design can cut total system costs by 7–15%, offset up to 80% of wind and solar, and reduce battery usage by over 70%, though hydrogen storage remains vital for seasonal balancing. The planar design, by contrast, is uneconomical at its forecast costs. Sensitivity analyses reveal relative cost thresholds to terrestrial solar at which space-based solar shifts from cost-prohibitive to complementary, and ultimately to a dominant baseload source for net zero transitions. These results provide robust techno-economic benchmarks, highlighting new net-zero pathways and guiding policymakers and industry toward large-scale, low-intermittency renewables.
8. Lukas Jansen (Fraunhofer-Institut for Energy Economics and Energy System Technologies): PyPSA-RSA-Sec: Open Source Modelling of Defossilisation and Power-to-X Allocation Scenarios for South Africa
Fraunhofer IEE and Stellenbosch University leveraged and built on PyPSA-RSA, currently developed by Meridian Economics (Peter Klein), and PyPSA-Earth, to set up the first customised, multi-regional, hourly-resolved energy model with sector-coupling and Power-to-X features for South Africa. The model was used to derive scenario-based insights on the required expansion and scaling-up of renewable energy and Power-to-X (PtX) production and utilisation. This was done as part of the PtX Allocation Study for South Africa, which was supported by the International PtX Hub, Agora Industry, CSIR, and valuable feedback from various stakeholders. This presentation will cover how various tools and datasets were combined, and how new features were implemented using PyPSA, to evaluate the project’s scenarios. Key features include analysing PtX export potential, and integrating energy and feedstock demand from the transport, industrial, household, commercial, agricultural, and green PtX export sectors. The presentation will also address the simplifications that had to be made and outline potential areas for improvement through further research and collaboration.
Additional information regarding the format of the user meeting:
To all the speakers
- Please prepare to hold a presentation of 10 minutes,
- Followed by a short Q&A of 3 minutes.
To all listeners
- Please feel free to participate in the talks by posting your questions into the Zoom chat.
- We will collect the questions and discuss them in the consecutive Q&As or in the breakout rooms after the lightning talks.
Previous User Meetings
Recordings and timestamps of previous PyPSA User Meetings:
Recording permissions
We’d like to record the entire session and, for people who give their consent, make the recordings available after the session under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) to those who were not able to make the meeting.
Participants can license their contribution to the meeting under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license at the time of registration. This will permit the associated video recording to be shared with a wider audience in the Open Modelling community.
In addition, presenters can optionally license their presentations under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 license. This will also facilitate their dissemination and reuse.
Attendees and presenters should note that open licensing is optional. We will not publish anything without the consent of those being recorded. You may withdraw your consent afterwards as well. We will respect the wishes of anyone who asks to delete the recording of them during times when they were talking.
Around the Globe
| City | Time Zone | Local Time | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | UTC-7.0 | 01:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Vancouver | UTC-7.0 | 01:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Mexico City | UTC-6.0 | 02:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| New York | UTC-4.0 | 04:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Toronto | UTC-4.0 | 04:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| SĂŁo Paulo | UTC-3.0 | 05:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| London | UTC+1.0 | 09:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Berlin | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Paris | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Johannesburg | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Stockholm | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Amsterdam | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Rome | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Madrid | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Vienna | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Zurich | UTC+2.0 | 10:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Moscow | UTC+3.0 | 11:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Cairo | UTC+3.0 | 11:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Istanbul | UTC+3.0 | 11:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Dubai | UTC+4.0 | 12:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| New Delhi | UTC+5.5 | 13:30 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Bangkok | UTC+7.0 | 15:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Singapore | UTC+8.0 | 16:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Hong Kong | UTC+8.0 | 16:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Beijing | UTC+8.0 | 16:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Tokyo | UTC+9.0 | 17:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Seoul | UTC+9.0 | 17:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Sydney | UTC+10.0 | 18:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
| Auckland | UTC+12.0 | 20:00 | 02 Jul 2025 |
Inquiries
For any inquiries, please contact Lukas Trippe @lkstrp // l.trippe@tu-berlin.de
We look forward to a fruitful exchange with many of you!
Best regards,
the PyPSA team
https://pypsa.org/
PyPSA · GitHub