The Role of Open-Source Software in the Energy Sector

Jonathan Klimt (), Niklas Eiling, Felix Wege, Jonas Baude and Antonello Monti ()
Additional contact information
Jonathan Klimt: Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Niklas Eiling: Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Felix Wege: Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Jonas Baude: Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Antonello Monti: Institute for Automation of Complex Power Systems, RWTH Aachen University, 52074 Aachen, Germany

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 16, 1-17

Abstract: Fast digitalization of the power grids and the adoption of innovative software solutions is key to a successful energy transition. In other sectors, such as telecommunication or cloud computing, open-source software has already proven capable of transforming entire industries, by speeding up development and lowering development costs while achieving high levels of stability, interoperability, and security. However, the energy sector has not yet embraced open-source software to the same level. We discuss how existing open-source software principles can be applied to the unique challenges of the energy sector during the transition towards higher penetration of renewable energy resources. To provide an overview of the current state of the open-source software landscape, we collected and analyzed 388 open-source projects, in terms of project activities, community composition, relevant licenses, and commonly used programming languages. One finding was that the majority of projects are currently driven by academic contributors, but that commercial players do also play a role, and we identify positive examples of collaboration between the two, mostly related to standardization.

Keywords: open-source software; energy transition; power systems; free software; FOSS; licenses; community; future distribution grid (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/5855/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/16/16/5855/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:16:y:2023:i:16:p:5855-:d:1212478

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().