About
Electricity Maps is a leading electricity data platform that gives organizations and developers unprecedented visibility into the global electricity grid. Covering 190+ countries and regions, it harmonizes access to electricity data at the highest granularity available anywhere. The platform delivers a comprehensive suite of signals including electricity mix (solar, wind, coal, gas, biomass, oil, and more), carbon intensity measured in gCO₂eq/kWh, electricity prices in real-time and forecast, and grid load data. Data is available historically (up to 8 years back), in real-time, and forecasted up to 72 hours ahead, making it suitable for a wide range of use cases from operational decisions to long-term planning. Electricity Maps is widely used by sustainability teams, energy companies, data centers, and software developers building carbon-aware applications. Its API allows seamless integration into existing systems, enabling automated workload shifting to lower-carbon grid windows, green energy procurement, and sustainability reporting. The platform is trusted by enterprises looking to reduce their Scope 2 emissions and align operations with cleaner energy availability.
Key Features
- Global Coverage: Harmonized electricity data across 190+ countries and regions, providing the broadest geographic coverage of any electricity data provider.
- Carbon Intensity Signals: Real-time and forecasted carbon intensity data (gCO₂eq/kWh) enabling carbon-aware computing and energy procurement decisions.
- Full Temporality: Access up to 8 years of historical data, live real-time feeds, and forecasts up to 72 hours ahead for all available signals.
- Electricity Mix Breakdown: Granular breakdown of electricity generation by source including solar, wind, coal, gas, biomass, and oil for any supported region.
- Electricity Price Data: Real-time and forecasted electricity prices (e.g., €/MWh) with 15-minute granularity for supported markets.
Use Cases
- Carbon-aware computing: shift data center workloads or batch jobs to times and regions with lower carbon intensity grids.
- Sustainability reporting: track Scope 2 emissions by integrating real-time and historical carbon intensity data into ESG dashboards.
- Energy procurement optimization: identify optimal times to purchase electricity based on price forecasts and renewable energy availability.
- Green software development: build applications that automatically route tasks to lower-carbon infrastructure based on live grid data.
- Grid research and analysis: analyze historical electricity mix trends across countries for academic research or policy planning.
Pros
- Unmatched Global Coverage: 190+ countries covered makes it the go-to platform for organizations operating internationally or building globally deployed applications.
- Rich Temporal Data: Historical, real-time, and forecast data in one platform eliminates the need for multiple data sources for different time horizons.
- Developer-Friendly API: Clean API design makes it straightforward to integrate electricity and carbon data into apps, dashboards, or automated workflows.
Cons
- Cost at Scale: High-volume or enterprise API usage can become expensive, making it less accessible for smaller teams or independent developers.
- Coverage Gaps in Some Regions: While coverage is broad, data granularity and signal availability may be limited in certain developing markets or smaller grid zones.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is carbon intensity and why does it matter?
Carbon intensity (gCO₂eq/kWh) measures how much CO₂ is emitted per unit of electricity consumed. It varies by region and time based on the energy mix. Lower carbon intensity means cleaner electricity, which is crucial for sustainability reporting and carbon-aware computing.
How far ahead can Electricity Maps forecast electricity data?
Electricity Maps provides forecasts up to 72 hours ahead for electricity mix, carbon intensity, and prices, enabling proactive planning and workload scheduling.
Can I access historical electricity data?
Yes. The platform provides up to 8 years of historical data across all available signals, useful for trend analysis, sustainability reporting, and model training.
Is there a free tier available?
Electricity Maps offers a free tier with limited access, as well as paid plans for higher usage, broader signal access, and commercial applications.
What types of organizations use Electricity Maps?
Data centers, cloud providers, sustainability teams, energy companies, software developers, and researchers use Electricity Maps to optimize energy use, reduce carbon emissions, and build carbon-aware applications.
