Breakthrough Energy: A clean energy future: Modeling using open source data & models

The United States power grid will have to undergo a radical transformation for the deep decarbonization necessary to avoid the worst effects of climate change. With many options for how to conduct this transformation to consider, the Breakthrough Energy Sciences team is working to develop, validate, and publish high-resolution models of the U.S. grid, capable of investigating a variety of future grid configurations. To demonstrate the utility of these models, we investigate how to meet the current 2030 clean electricity goals, as well as a more ambitious set of goals consistent with deep decarbonization. Four designs for a ‘Macro Grid’ are developed, capable of strengthening the connections between the regions of the grid today; each of these designs can achieve 70% clean electricity via different infrastructure choices. The open source software architecture used to conduct these studies is also presented, as well as ongoing efforts to refine and enhance the model.