The aim of ATEsT is to create an initial framework as well as the roadmap for its future development, for providing answers regarding:

		the effect of policies to promote certain technologies on a country and EU level,
		the alternatives for meeting the energy and environmental targets that have been set and will be set in the future
		the effect of prices and taxes on the development of the energy system,
		the impact of Research Development and Demonstration on promoting and developing new energy systems,
		the issues related to the need for new infrastructure development for electricity, other energy carriers, carbon dioxide, and energy networks development in general.

In order to provide these answers the tools that will be evaluated in the framework of ATEsT, are methodologies for the analysis of energy policies and mathematical models that can be used in order to simulate the development of the energy system, or analyse the transition planning in the energy system.

The Objectives of ATEsT are to:

		Review models/tools used in the European Countries, taking in mind what is used outside Europe, and what are the requirements of the SETPlan.
		Identify and recommend common tools and/or methods to be used in the MS and in the Energy Technology Information System (SETIS), and gain consensus on these models.
		Identify and recommend existing sets of data (on technologies, energy resources, statistics etc.), and provide a roadmap for the development of these data on a European and on a regional level.
		Identify the roadmap for the improvement and development of the tools and methods in order to cover the needs of the SETPlan implementation.

Objective 1: Review of models/tools

The first key point of the project consists of the evaluation of the existing tools, gaining insight on their architectural methodologies and assessment of their efficiency. Last but not least these tools will offer the possibility of expanding the capacity to model the restructuring of the European Energy System towards a low carbon future, according to the vision of the European Community.

Objective 2: Identification and recommendation of common tools

In the process of planning for the future, given the vision for the low carbon economy and the requirements for moving forward in new directions, it is important to have common tools, transparent, accessible by all, and also broadly accepted between the Member States.
Having this in mind, the project will identify and recommend tools that fulfil the requirements of the SETplan, and can be used in common by all the interested parties (MS, Industry, Associations, EC, etc). Consensus on the tools is vital for the wider acceptance and understanding of the analysis results that will come out of the application of these tools, and the acceptance of the policies that will be derived from this analysis.

Objective 3: Identification and recommendation of existing sets of data

It is common knowledge that the input data to any kind of methodology and model, is the most important factor for the quality of the results. The use of the common, transparent tools requires the input of common, transparently acquired and consistent data. In this direction the existing databases will be reviewed and the project team will suggest a roadmap for their improvement and the development of new data according to the specialised needs of the tools selected.

Objective 4: Development of a roadmap for the improvement of the tools

An important key point of the project will be the development of a roadmap of the activities that will finally provide the set of methods/tools that are required for the planning and the development of infrastructure, transition and policy in the European Energy Sector.
The project (being a coordination action) will not develop transition planning tools as such. However, it will be a major milestone towards their development, since it will provide the knowledge on the dominant methodologies that these tools should follow or adopt. Benchmarking the existing methods according to the evaluation criteria and making the outcome publicly available will facilitate and coordinate all the approaches for developing transition planning tools on a European level. At the same time the identification of the inefficiencies of the existing procedures will result in a list of necessary further developments.

Summarising the project will

		Evaluate the existing infrastructure and transition planning tools gaining a full insight in their structure and underlying theory.
		Identify the inefficiencies in existing modelling approaches
		Define the scientific and technical limits of transition tools
		Contribute to the advance of methods for the optimal routes for strengthening policies in infrastructure development.

 

 

WorkProgramme

The activities of the project are divided into the following work packages:

Objectives of WP1 The objective of this WP is to define the specifications of the models/tools that are needed in order to address the policy questions in the context of the SET-plan. The transition planning framework has to provide the relevant data to SETIS. This work package aims to determine the kind of answers that the models will have to provide (specification of the transition planning framework). Objectives of WP2 The objective of this WP is to create an inventory of the existing tools that can cover the specifications set out in WP1, and to characterize them using the set of criteria. Objectives of WP3 The main objective of the WP is to propose, through an evaluation process, tools and/or necessary methods for transition planning and systemic modelling. These tools will eventually be integrated into SETIS. At the same time the WP will pinpoint the main shortfalls of existing modelling approaches in both areas and will designate the barriers needed to overcome and the potential to maximize. Objectives of WP4 This WP aims at the identification of existing data and the development of a roadmap for the continuous improvement of data in the future. Objectives of WP5 This WP aims at demonstrating the functionality of the models that will be proposed, using the available input data Objectives of WP6 The objective of this WP is to create a framework for tools necessary to plan and develop future energy systems and policies.