Global climate and energy indicators from 1950 to present derived from reanalysis

This dataset provides global climate and energy indicators from 1950 to the present at hourly and coarser temporal resolutions, offering a long-term, harmonised data foundation for energy-sector applications. It enables users to analyse energy indicators for the past climate, supporting energy planning, system design, risk assessments, climate impact modelling and model benchmarking. Based on ECMWF reanalysis v5 (ERA5), it includes key climate variables, such as temperature, precipitation, surface solar radiation and wind speed, that have been pre-processed to enhance consistency and usability for energy modelling. These pre-processing steps include bias adjustment (for wind speed) and spatial aggregation at country and sub-country levels. 
Energy indicators are computed using a combination of physics-based and statistical models, selected according to data availability and the specific characteristics of each energy subsector.
- Wind power indicators (onshore and offshore) are calculated by applying turbine power curves to wind speeds extrapolated to the wind turbine hub height.
- The photovoltaic (PV) indicator combines statistical relationships with physics-based representations of PV system performance incorporating solar irradiance, temperature, and standard PV configurations.
- Hydropower indicators are produced using statistical models calibrated with observed generation data for the European domain, where such data are available, and a proxy approach based on climate variables for global coverage.
- Electricity demand is modelled explicitly for Europe using a climate-sensitive statistical model calibrated on measured load data.
- Energy demand at the global scale is represented through the Energy Degree Days (EDD) indicator, which captures heating- and cooling-related demand driven by temperature in regions where load data are not available.
This dataset was produced on behalf of the Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S).