About IEA-ETSAP
The Energy Technology Systems Analysis Program (ETSAP) is one of the longest running Technology Collaboration Programme of the International Energy Agency (IEA). ETSAP currently has as contracting parties 21 countries, and one private sector sponsor.
Why choose TIMES
The IEA-ETSAP methodology (the TIMES energy system model) offers elegant solutions for compilation of long term energy scenarios and in-depth national, multi-country, and global energy and environmental analyses. It can assist in the design of least-cost pathways for sustainable energy systems, and is ideally suited for the preparation of Low-Emissions Development Strategies (LEDS) and Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDC) and Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) roadmaps.
Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and Related Applications in non-OECD Countries
An introduction to the TIMES model generator is available via the TIMES-Starter example.
This can be used to explore the capabilities of TIMES at the level of a country starting from the energy balance. The model has been used as a starting point in several countries to underpin their NDC analyses.
IEA-ETSAP Community
The IEA-ETSAP community leads a major initiative for open source solutions for energy scenario modeling needs.
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IEA-ETSAP Tool Users (63 countries)

News [ARCHIVES]
International Autumn School on Prospective Model and Climate Change: Energy and Water Issues, to be held in Sophia-Antipolis, France on November 6th to 11th, 2023, jointly organized by ETSAP (IEA), The Transition Institute 1.5 and CMA Mines Paris - PSL. More information is available here.
The next IEA-ETSAP workshop will take place on 16th – 17th November 2023 in Turin, Italy. Registration is open here.
Turin will be busy during this time due to the tennis ATP Finals. Book flights and accommodation well in advance.
The Annual Report 2020 and 2021 for Annex XV is now available to download.
A TIMES/MIRO app has been developed which can serve as an open-source GUI to TIMES models, published under an open-source license on GitHub.
A new TIMES Cloud Service has been established as part of an R&D project funded by ETSAP spearheaded by DWI, GAMS, and KanORS-EMR.
Please check here for details.
Applications
The IEA-ETSAP methodology delivers detailed global energy scenarios
Reliability through detailed analysis
You can analyze scenarios for thousands of technologies. In your region of interest & over time periods that matter to you. And the best part is you can know to great detail how the analysis is done.
The power of the IEA-ETSAP methodology helps you manage uncertainties confidently. Find answers to questions such as: When is wait and see better than hedging? And how does it compare with classical analysis?
Applications based on the IEA-ETSAP methodology are thorough and reliable
The IEA-ETSAP community is keenly aware of this and therefore the IEA-ETSAP methodology makes it possible for the assumptions to be known in fine detail and the output data to be visualized by well evolved means that make it easy to understand for people who are not researchers themselves.
Though the IEA-ETSAP methodology has the feature that the process can also be understood in great depth by non-technical persons its capabilities are not restricted by it. It can do very fine analysis say for example to compare two scenarios that have only subtle differences.
Tools
The IEA-ETSAP methodology uses effective & efficient tools that help you work with large volumes of data
The elegant power of the tools is enjoyed by a large number of leading researchers.
You can know how the tools work to a great extent. That makes thorough verification possible and enhances credibility of the research.
The IEA-ETSAP Tools give the methodology an edge
The tools that help researchers implement the IEA-ETSAP methodology are key to its widespread success. The tools help in achieving the twin and potentially conflicting objectives of enabling fine detailing while maintaining high levels of transparency.
This challenging objective is worthwhile to achieve because the IEA-ETSAP methodology is often applied to issues that are critical for the future of our planet. For example for energy production, green house gas emitting technologies and nuclear technologies both have their advantages and disadvantages. Striking the right balance is very important. This can only be done when the tools are capable to working with different scenarios with equal ease.
The efficiency of the tools makes it possible to mitigate the effect of the inherent uncertainties involved. The efficiency of compiling the input data, processing it and interpreting the results makes it possible to relatively quickly evaluate a wide range of scenarios to provide for the uncertainties involved. This makes a confident final decision possible because the effect of uncertainty has been taken into account.
IEA-ETSAP methodology is explicitly designed for long-term energy-environment modeling in the context of climate change. It has a long history of usage so tools have got perfected over the years. The community is large, so tool development has been driven by various types of researchers. The IEA-ETSAP methodology utilizes very flexible tools which can be used in diverse areas.
Technologies
The IEA-ETSAP methodology enables building scenarios around a large number of energy supply & demand technologies
A deep understanding of both existing and emerging energy technologies. You can use consistent data sets for supply and demand technologies.
You can contribute to the ETSAP E-TechDS project by: 1. Reviewing/updating briefs 2. Drafting new briefs 3. Joining as a sponsor. Please contact at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Contributions will be highly appreciated & acknowledged with a free access to all briefs.
Are you interested in technical and economic details of (almost 50) energy supply and demand technologies?
Please visit our Technology Data page
The IEA-ETSAP methodology embraces past present & emerging technologies
Understanding and assigning parameters to the various past, existing and emerging technologies can be a big challenge for a person doing energy scenario modeling. A great strength of the IEA-ETSAP methodology is that these technologies have already been well understood and defined in detail. This is in terms of key parameters that are of consequence while doing a research.
This does away with the need to start from scratch while undertaking a study using the IEA-ETSAP methodology. Studies can therefore have lower costs and shorter durations. The details of each technology are available in an open source format so if for a study some parameters need to be changed that is possible as well. This allows the researcher all the flexibility required while maintaining very high levels of convenience.
New technologies are added regularly to the set of technologies and researchers can work on scenarios that involve taking into account recent technological developments.
Training
Learning to use the IEA-ETSAP methodology is easy thanks to the excellent training options
The IEA-ETSAP methodology will swiftly take you to the frontiers of cutting edge research in your area of interest.
Get formal and informal support from a large vibrant community.
IEA-ETSAP Methodology Training Worldwide
ETSAP offers training courses on building TIMES energy models with the VEDA or ANSWER users interfaces.
The base training course is offered twice a year next to ETSAP Workshop (dates and location depends from the ETSAP workshop). In the Base level course (3 days) the trainees learn to build a simple TIMES model, to run scenarios and to read the technical economic results.
Each course is free of charge for ETSAP Contracting Parties.
Participants of companies, institutions & universities pay €1200, €1000 & €750 per person per course. Payment is only possible through bank transfer.
Workshops
IEA-ETSAP meets twice a year & invites local experts to these meetings
Stuttgart Workshop Highlights
- Energy Research Program of the German Government
- Actors’ behaviour analysis in a decentralised energy system: Overview of TIMES-Actors Model and the German supply sector
- Modelling transport modal shift in TIMES models through elasticities of substitution
- Implication of transport policies when meeting Swedish climate goals
- Analysis of different sector coupling paths for CO2 mitigation in the German transport sector
- Integrated Transport and Energy Modelling
- The Spine project – Open source toolbox for modelling integrated energy systems
- Impacts of scenario definitions on CO2 mitigation cost in energy system models
- Drivers for H2 deployment in medium and short-term in the Portuguese energy system
IEA-ETSAP Model Generators Documentation
The IEA-ETSAP methodology is transparent, well documented and respected in scientific literature
A commitment to the highest levels of transparency. The IEA-ETSAP methodology and applications based on it are well documented.
Innovation spreads faster when it is documented well. The vibrant IEA-ETSAP community is quick to spread a great new idea.
Detailed and lucid documentation enables knowledge to spread efficiently
The IEA-ETSAP methodology is greatly helped by the excellent documentation that is available. This documentation reveals the real world issues that being addressed using the IEA-ETSAP methodology and not just the technical details of the research. This makes the documentation very useful for policy makers who will have the opportunity to review how similar research has been done in the past.
It may also be possible to compare two different approaches to a problem by reviewing the documentation of the past studies. And if an approach has worked well in one part of the world the excellent and reliable documentation makes it possible to use the approach in other parts of the world by making the required changes.
IEA-ETSAP Projects
The IEA-ETSAP methodology's capabilities are regularly updated
Outcomes Of The Projects
- The ETSAP TIMES-Starter Platform
- VEDA-TIMES Demo Models
- Transport Modal choice in a TIMES model
- TIMES-MERGE MACRO linking
- Incorporating Generation Expansion Planning under Wide-Scale RES Energy Penetration in the TIMES model
- Attach models with VEDA FE
- Automating creation of VEDA FE-TIMES models from an Energy Balance
Integrating policy instruments into the TIMES Model
- Theoretical background on the modelling of policy instruments in energy system models
- The explicit modelling of support systems for renewable electricity in TIMES
- The representation of emission trading schemes in national energy system models
- The Modelling of regulatory instruments and financial incentive measures in the buildings sector
- Application: Scenario analysis with the TIMES-D model
- Best Practice Examples
Ongoing Projects
- The IEA-ETSAP methodology will be able to deliver better global energy modeling scenarios
- The TIMES model is being enhanced to handle intermittent sources of electricity, like wind and solar
- Heat and electricity storage mechanisms are being developed further
- The IEA-ETSAP methodology allows explicit;treatment of uncertainty using stochastic programming
- Several groups are working on linking TIMES with macroeconomic models