Energy data: mapping, barriers and value creation

The growing level of digitalization and data abundance in the energy sector enable increasing system flexibility, reducing CO2 emissions and improving energy efficiency. This report is part of the IDASC (Intelligent Data Use in Smart Cities) project financed by The Capital Region of Denmark (Region H) and contains a mapping of energy data types available in Denmark, an analysis of barriers for data collection and use and, finally, an overview of the value energy data can bring.

Data for this report was collected through literature review and in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted with selected stakeholders dealing with energy data. The present report is accompanied by two other deliverables: the report "Experience of using Data-Driven Methods in District Heating: Digitalized Operation in Tingbjerg, Copenhagen" and a report in Danish, entitled "Digitalisering af fjernvarmen - erfaringer der luner" ("Digitalization of district heating").

This study demonstrates that key actors believe that legislative, technical and data access-related barriers still exist for efficient data collection and sharing. Other frequently mentioned barriers are organizational, insufficient knowledge, insufficient data security, and insufficient communication.

Aspects such as uncertainty about the benefits of the various initiatives, silo mentality due to traditional organization and legislation complicate the possibilities for increased digitalization. These barriers hinder the possibilities for applying data in analyses that could reveal potentials for increased system flexibility, sector coupling, and implementation of renewables, CO2 emission reductions and energy saving measures.

The decisionmaking processes concerning data governance and facilitation of digitalization initiatives on the national, municipal and utility/company level need to be improved to address these barriers. We recommend district heating and electricity operators and IT companies to collaborate in order to share experiences on data handling, as well as prepare and implement templates for data agreements and guidelines for legislative processes.

We also recommend municipalities to strategically approach data governance, coordinate with property managers to identify open questions and activate key players (e.g. district heating companies) to utilize the potential for CO2 emission reductions, as well as provide more open source data where available.

We suggest that national bodies provide common standards for data formats, develop legislation that would dynamically follow the developments in data science, and support and develop initiatives for open data and co-creation.