GA Booklet Web

Overview of
Solar and Wind Maps

Middle East real relief. Elements of this image furnished by NASA©ixpert/Shutterstock
IRENA is an intergovernmental organisation that promotes the widespread adoption and sustainable use of all forms
of renewable energy. The Global Atlas for Renewable Energy (Global Atlas) is an initiative coordinated by IRENA,
aimed at closing the gap between nations having access to the necessary datasets, expertise and financial support to
evaluate their national renewable energy potentials, and those countries lacking such elements.
The Global Atlas was initiated in partnership with the Multilateral Solar and Wind working group of the Clean Energy
Ministerial. As of January 2014, 39 countries and more than 50 institutes and partners were contributing to the initiative.
The Global Atlas provides access to the datasets and methods to allow a first screening for areas of opportunity where
further assessments can be of particular relevance. It enables the user to overlay information listed in a catalogue of
more than 1,000 datasets, and to identify areas of interest for further prospection.
Starting with solar and wind, IRENA is mandated to expand the initiative to encompass all renewable energy resources,
towards the creation of the first ever Global Renewable Energy Atlas.
This brochure presents an extract of the datasets hosted by the Global Atlas. All information published in this booklet
is available through the Global Atlas interface. IRENA is continuously adding information to the system.
IRENA wishes to thank the data providers of the Global Atlas for making this publication possible.
Access the Global Atlas for Renewable Energy: http://irena.org/globalatlas
The designations employed and the presentation of materials herein do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of the
International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA) concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning
the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. While this publication promotes the adoption and use of renewable energy, IRENA does not endorse
any particular project, product or service provider.
OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 3

Contents
The Global Atlas interface in a nutshell 6 Joint Research Center (JRC), European
Commission — Africa 16
Global Atlas Maps 8
Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Solar and wind data sources and (KISR) — Kuwait 17
coverage
Masdar Institute — United Arab
3TIER — global coverage 10
Emirates and Qatar 18
Agence Nationale pour la Maitrise de
MINES ParisTech — Africa 19
l’Energie (ANME) — Tunisia 11
Australian Bureau of Meteorology National Aeronautics and Space

(BOM) — Australia 12 Administration (NASA) — global coverage 20
ECOWAS Center for Renewable NASA — global coverage 21

Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECREEE)
— West Africa 13 National Renewable Energy Center (CENER)
— Europe/Africa/Latin America 22
Feasibility of Renewable Energy
Resources in Mali (FRSE) — Mali 14 Offshore wind projects — Belgium 23
Institutos de Investigationes Electricas (IIE) Renewable Energy and Energy

— Mexico 15 Efficiency Institute (REEEI) — Namibia 24
4 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Ricerca Sistema Energetico (RSE) — Italy 25 Other datasets
ESA Land Cover 2009 34
Sander + Partner — global coverage 26
Global Land Cover 2000 34
Secretariat of the Pacific Community
(SPC) — North Pacific islands 27 Population Density 2012 35
Solar Atlas for the Mediterranean 28 Protected Areas 2012 35
— Mediterranean region AICD — Africa grid map 2008 36
South Africa Wind Atlas (WASA) Topography 2008 36

— South Africa 29
Swaziland National Energy Policy Direct access to thematic maps
Development Project — Swaziland 30 Maps registry 38-41
United Nations Environment

Partners 42
Programme (UNEP) — Global coverage 31
University of Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe 32 Latest Global Atlas publications 44
Vortex — East Africa 33 Contacts 46

THE GLOBAL ATLAS INTERFACE IN A NUTSHELL
The online Geographic Information System (GIS) en- Layer: a file containing geographic information (map or
ables users to visualise information on wind and solar map features) displayed through a GIS interface. Several
resources, and to overlay additional information on, for layers can be superposed.
example, protected areas, roads or infrastructure. The
aim is to provide access to a set of information layers, Map: sum of activated layers.
which will enable users to highlight areas of opportu-
nity for further prospection. The platform allows users Legend and tools: the legend is displayed for each indi-
to create and save thematic maps. The Atlas interface vidual layer. Online tools are available to perform analy-
will progressively integrate software and tools that will sis in real time.
allow advanced energy or economic calculations for
calculating the technical or/and economic potential of Menu bar:
renewable energy. create, edit maps and open the map registry
open the data browser, search amongst
The online GIS is freely accessible at: 1,000 datasets, add your own addresses
http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/ edit the title and description of the current map
save your work (requires login)
User interface: it visualises GIS-based information, such
as, renewable energy resources, infrastructures, popula-
tion, protected areas. It allows the users to create and
save customised maps. The interface loads layers from
a catalogue of more than 1,000 datasets.

User interface Search map registry, add data from Login and registration
the catalogue edit and save your map
Activate ‘i’ to access

the map values
Main menu
and more maps
Individual Click for map values

layers
Legend
and tools
Layer folders -
click to expand Map - sum of activated layers
GLOBAL ATLAS MAPS
Direct access:
http://irena.org/globalatlas/Map-Gallery.aspx
Wind
Solar Large icons indicate

Continental Maps
Small icons indicate

National Maps

SOLAR AND WIND DATA SOURCES AND COVERAGE
3TIER
Geographic coverage: Global speeds were compared to observations from more

Source: 3TIER than 4,000 meteorological stations around the globe
from the National Centers for Environmental Predic-
Website: www.3TIER.com tion (NCEP) Automated Data Processing dataset, with
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=543 a spatial resolution of approximately 5km.
Description: The Global Solar dataset compiles more Detailed description: www.3tier.com/static/ttcms/us/
than 11 years of data and was compared to 92 surface documents/publications/validations/3TIER_Global_So-
stations across the globe. The spatial resolution is 3km. lar_Validation.pdf
The Global Wind Dataset provides the average annual
wind speed at 80m. It is built from computer simula- Original website: www.3tier.com/en/about/publications/
tions of hourly values over a 10-year period. The wind firstlook-global-wind-dataset-annual-mean-validation/

Agence Nationale pour
la Maitrise de l’Energie (ANME)
Geographic coverage: Tunisia Wind maps are generated in GIS format at

Source: Agence Nationale pour la Maîtrise de l’Energie 1km x 1km resolution at different heights: 10m, 60m,
(National Agency for Energy Management) 80m, and 100m.
Website: www.anme.nat.tn
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=488
Description: The project was financed by the Span-

ish Agency of International Cooperation for Develop-
ment (AECID) and the Government of Navarra in col-
laboration with the Government of Tunisia through
the National Agency for Energy Management (ANME).

Australian Bureau
of Meteorology (BOM)
Geographic coverage: Australia Meteorological Agency and the Australian National

Source: Australian Bureau of Meteorology Oceanographic & Atmospheric Administration satellite
imagery, using a physical model developed by the Aus-
Website: www.bom.gov.au tralian Bureau of Meteorology.
Detailed description: www.bom.gov.au/climate/aver-
Description: Global solar exposure is the total amount ages/climatology/gridded-data-info/metadata/md_
of solar energy falling on a horizontal surface over a ave_sol_exp.shtml
specified period. These monthly, seasonal and annual
average daily datasets are based on 22 years of solar Original website:
exposure data (1990-2011), derived from the Japan www.bom.gov.au/jsp/awap/solar/index.jsp

ECOWAS Center for
Renewable Energy and
Energy Efficiency (ECREEE)
Geographic coverage: The Economic Community and other stakeholders, with tailored information and
of West African States (ECOWAS) decision support tools. The project was implemented
Source: ECOWAS Center for Renewable Energy by ECREEE and United Nations Industrial Development
and Energy Efficiency Orgnaization (UNIDO). It is financed by the Global En-
vironment Fund (GEF) with support from the Austrian
Website: www.ecreee.org Development Cooperation (ADC), the Spanish Agency
Direct access: Search ‘ECREEE’ through the Global At- for International Development Cooperation (AECID)
las Data Browser. and the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID).
Description: The ECOWAS Observatory for Renew-
able Energy and Energy Efficiency (ECOWREX) pro- Detailed description and original website:
vides decision makers, project developers, investors www.ecowrex.org

Feasibility of Renewable
Energy Resources in Mali (FRSE)
Geographic coverage: Mali by a group of university departments, research insti-

Source: Feasibility of Renewable Energy Resources tutions and consultants led by the UNEP Risø Centre
in Mali (URC) at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU)
and conducted in cooperation with Direction Nationale
Website: http://frsemali.org de l’Energie (DNE) and Centre National de l’Energie
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=416 Solaire et des Energies Renouvelables (CNESOLER) in
Mali.
Description: The objective of the project is to pro-
vide basic planning information for enhanced use of Detailed description:
sustainable energy in Mali. The project is carried out http://frsemali.org/research_papers.htm

Institutos de Investigationes
Electricas (IIE)
Geographic coverage: Mexico Extrapolation of wind speed at 80m was performed by

Source: Institutos de Investigationes Electricas (IIE) and using the power law with an exponent of one-seventh.
Secretary of Energy (SENER) Subsequently, the velocity values obtained every 9km
were interpolated each 1km.
Website: http://sag01.iie.org.mx/eolicosolar/
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=619 The wind resource maps are available on the IIE’s web-
site at 50m and 80m height on a monthly and annual
Description: Preliminary wind resource maps for Mexi- basis, for wind speed and power density.
co were made by using hourly wind speed data for the
year 2005, obtained by means of the MM5 program at Detailed description:
50m height every 9km. http://sag01.iie.org.mx/metadatos.htm

Joint Research Center (JRC)

- European Commission
Geographic coverage: Africa • Comparison between estimated PV and diesel mini-

Source: European Commission Joint Research Center grid costs in euros per kilowatt-hour (EUR/kWh).
• Estimated costs of electricity (EUR/kWh) delivered by
Website: www.euei.net/wg/african-renewable-energy-
a 15 kilowatt-peak off-grid PV system.
technology-platform-afretep
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=525 • Estimated costs of electricity (EUR/kWh) delivered by
a diesel generator using the diesel price for each coun-
Description: Solar photovoltaic (PV) analyses for Africa try and taking into account the cost of diesel transpor-
by the European Commission Joint Research Center: tation.
• Modelled most economic rural electrification option Detailed description: http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.

(off-grid PV system, grid extension, mini-hydro, diesel eu/repository/bitstream/111111111/23076/1/reqno_
generator). jrc67752_final%20report%20.pdf

Kuwait Institute for
Scientific Research (KISR)
Geographic coverage: Kuwait

Source: Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research
Website: www.kisr.edu.kw/
Description: Monthly average values for five measure-

ment stations in Kuwait for solar and wind parameters,
humidity, and temperature. Measurements cover the
period September 2012 – August 2013.
Detailed description: N/A

Masdar Institute
Geographic coverage: United Arab Emirates and Qatar maps easily available to end-users and stakeholders.
Source: Masdar Institute of Science and Technology The portal shows atlas maps over a base map and pro-
vides basic data management tools, including the pos-
Website: www.masdar.ac.ae sibility to access pixel values and to derive histograms
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=401 of solar and wind resources.
Description: The atlas makes solar and wind resource Original website: http://atlas.masdar.ac.ae/

MINES ParisTech
Geographic coverage: Africa, Europe, Middle East, Latin ers the period 1985-2005. HelioClim-3 started in 2004
America (part) and is updated daily. These databases can be accessed
Source: MINES ParisTech through the SoDa Service. The SoDa Service delivers
information on solar radiation (data, databases, algo-
Website: www.oie.mines-paristech.fr/
rithms, advanced applications). It can be accessed from
the ‘tools’ section of the Global Atlas.
Description: The Heliosat method converts Meteosat
satellite images into maps of solar radiation that are Detailed description and original website:
then feed into the HelioClim databases. HelioClim-1 cov- www.helioclim.org

National Aeronautics and

Space Administration (NASA)
Geographic coverage: Global historical analyses of the hydrological cycle on a broad

Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration range of weather and climate time scales and places the
NASA Earth Observing System (EOS) suite of observa-
Website: www.nasa.gov tions in a climate context.
Detailed description and original website:
Description: Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Re- http://gmao.gsfc.nasa.gov/merra/
search and Applications (MERRA) is a NASA reanalysis
for the satellite era using a major new version of the
Goddard Earth Observing System Data Assimilation
System Version 5 (GEOS-5). The Project focuses on

NASA
Geographic coverage: Global Detailed description: https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/

Source: National Aeronautics and Space Administration Original website: http://en.openei.org/appsSWERA/
Website: www.nasa.gov
Description: The Surface meteorology and Solar Energy

(SSE) project is developing the commercial potential of
NASA’s cloud, radiation, and meteorology data by work-
ing closely with partners from government, commercial
industry, educational, and non-profit organisations.

National Renewable
Energy Center (CENER)
Geographic coverage: Latin America, Europe, period, generating hourly maps to simulate the whole
Africa, Spain domain. This methodology has been successfully vali-
Source: Centro National de Energias Renovables dated with measurements spread over four continents.
(National Renewable Energy Center — Spain)
Detailed description:
Website: www.cener.com http://secure.cener.com/documentos/wind-resources-
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=422 map-mesoscale-PaperEwec08.pdf
Description: The atmospheric conditions are modelled

using the SKIRON mesoscale model. SKIRON long-term
simulation is launched to cover at least a three-year

Offshore wind projects
Geographic coverage: Belgium offshore Detailed description: All information on offshore wind
Source: Data supplied by the Belgium Ministry of farms in Belgium is available at www.mumm.ac.be/EN/
Economy Management/Sea-based/windmills.php
Website: www.mumm.ac.be/EN/Management/Sea- Definition of the concession zones

based/windmills.php (available in French (FR) and Dutch (NL):
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=603 www.creg.be/fr/greenelec1.html
Description: The Global Atlas displays the bathymetry,

offshore wind energy clusters and project locations for
Belgium.

Renewable Energy and

Energy Efficiency Institute (REEEI)
Geographic coverage: Namibia

Source: Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency
Institute
Website: www.reeei.org.na
Description: Direct normal irradiation values. Annual

and monthly long-term average, representing years
1994-2011. © 2012 GeoModel
Detailed description and original website:

http://solargis.info

Ricerca Sistema
Energetico (RSE)
Geographic coverage: Italy model of Genoa University. The onshore maps have
Source: RSE S.p.A. been calibrated using more than 200 Met_stations
data, whereas the offshore maps were calibrated with
Website: http://atlanteeolico.rse-web.it satellite data and the few direct measurement available.
Constraint maps can be overlapped. A “Performance
Calculation” tool allows the user to perform a techni-
Description: Annual mean wind speed and specific pro-
caly-economical evaluation of theoretical wind farms
duction maps at four levels (25m 50m 75m and 100m)
based on the dataset of the Wind Atlas.
above ground and sea, with 1km spatial resolution, are
available in a WebGIS for navigation and free download. Detailed description: http://doc.rse-web.it/doc/doc-sfo
The maps have been calculated by means of the WINDS glia/12003699-315158/12003699-315158.html

Sander + Partner
Geographic coverage: Global of volatile winds remain unexplored.

Source: Sander + Partner A wind index shows the change of wind speed from one
year to the next.
Website: www.sander-partner.com
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=180 Register for free at www.sander-partner.com and view
the local wind index for any location in the World.
Description: Mean wind speed at 50m above ground
estimated for the period 1980-2011. The mean wind speed Primary source of the data: NASA.
is based on values for each hour during this 32 year pe- Primary citation: Rienecker et al. (2011), MERRA - NASAs
riod. Wind speeds change from one year to another. The Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Ap-
maps only show the potentials, while the financial risks plications. Journal of Climate, Vol 24, pp. 3624-3648.

Secretariat of the Pacific
Community (SPC)
Geographic coverage: North Pacific region energy sectors of the Federated States of Micronesia, the
Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community Republic of the Marshall Islands and Palau. These three SPC
members have pooled the combined EUR 14,4 million from
Website: www.spc.int the European Development Fund 10 resources, and entrust-
Direct access: ed SPC to manage the project. This highlights the special
»» Chuuk: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=447 partnership between a provider of technical assistance and
»» Pohnpei: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=491 services and its recipient member countries and territories.
It also highlights the collaboration and vision in working to-
»» Yap: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=492
gether to improve the livelihoods of residents living in the
»» Kosrae: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=493
north Pacific region.
Description: The North Pacific ACP (African, Caribbean and Detailed description: www.spc.int/edd/fr/section-01/en-
Pacific) Renewable Energy and Energy Efficiency Project ergy-overview/energy/77-north-pacific-acp-renewable-
(North-REP) is a unique project aimed at developing the energy-and-energy-efficiency-project-north-rep
Solar Atlas for

the Mediterranean
Geographic coverage: Mediterranean area. Earth Observation satellite data, based on published
Source: Solar-Med Atlas and transparent methodologies, and the data has been
validated with existing ground measurements in the
Website: www.solar-med-atlas.org region.
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=178 The database is provided by SOLEMI and Helioclim-3
(SoDa).
Description: The project brings high resolution (1km),
long term coverage (20 years: 1991-2010) data for the Detailed description:
whole target region. The resource data is derived from www.solar-med-atlas.org/solarmed-atlas/about.htm

South Africa
Wind Atlas (WASA)
Geographic coverage: South Africa Systems Analysis Group, and the Technical University of
Source: South African National Energy Development Denmark — Wind Energy). The main objective of WASA,
Institute through capacity development and research cooperation,
is to develop and employ numerical (modelled) wind at-
Website: www.wasaproject.info las methods, as well as develop capacity to enable long
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=405 term planning of large-scale exploitation of wind power in
South Africa. This will iclude dedicated wind resource as-
Description: The Wind Atlas for South Africa (WASA) sessments and siting tools for planning purposes, i.e., veri-
Project is an initiative of the South African Department fied with physical wind measurements numerical (mod-
of Energy (DoE) with the South African National Energy elled) Wind Atlas, Extreme Wind Atlas, high resolution
Development Institute (SANEDI) executing and manag- Wind Resource map and database for South Africa.
ing WASA, and contracting the Implementation Partners
(Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, South Afri- Detailed description:
can Weather Service, University of Cape Town — Climate www.wasaproject.info/about_wind_energy.html
Swaziland National Energy

Policy Development Project
Geographic coverage: Swaziland wind measurement project, which was part of the Swa-
Source: Swaziland National Energy Policy Development ziland National Energy Policy Development Project
Project and supported by the Danish Co-operation for Envi-
ronment and Development (DANCED).
Website: None
Direct access: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=299 Detailed description: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/docs/
Wind_Measurements_in_Swaziland_Final.pdf
Description: Wind measurements were taken from five
measurement stations in Swaziland. The data was col-
lected between May 2001 and April 2002 under the

United Nations Environment
Programme (UNEP)
Geographic coverage: Global (GEF) and managed by the United Nations Environment
Source: UNEP, Solar and Wind Resource Assessment Programme’s (UNEP) Division of Technology, Industry
(SWERA) and Economics (DTIE) in collaboration with more than 25
partners around the world. With the success of the project
Website: http://en.openei.org/apps/SWERA/ in 13 pilot countries SWERA expanded in 2006 into a full
Direct access: Search ‘SWERA’ through the Global Atlas programme.
Data Browser to access the data archive.
SWERA provides high quality information on renewable
Description: The Solar and Wind Energy Resource As- energy resources for countries and regions around the
sessment (SWERA) started in 2001 to advance the large world, together with the tools to utilise the data and facili-
scale use of renewable energy technologies, by increas- tate renewable energy policies and investments.
ing the availability and accessibility of high quality solar
and wind resource information. SWERA began as a pilot Detailed description: http://en.openei.org/wiki/
project with funding from the Global Environment Facility SWERA/About
University of Zimbabwe
Geographic coverage: Zimbabwe Description: Global solar radiation map for Zimbabwe
Source: T. Hove, E. Manyumbu and G. Rukweza. “De- obtained through correlating long-term ground- and
veloping an improved global solar radiation map for satellite-based monthly clearness index values.
Zimbabwe through correlating long-term ground- and
satellite-based monthly clearness index values”. Detailed description: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/
docs/Solar_radiation_map_Zimbabwe_T_Hove_E_
Accepted for publication in Renewable Energy, Elsevier, Manyumbu_G_Rukweza.pdf
on 15/10/2013.
Website: None

Vortex
Geographic coverage: Sample on East Africa pre-screening qualitative assessment purposes only.
Source: Vortex
The data forms the basis for Vortex commercial
products of 3km resolution, validated for the temporal
Website: www.vortex.es
variability, and 100km resolution for site-scale values.
Detailed description: www.wrf-model.org
Description: Data collected between the years 1992 and
2011, at 80m high, gives mean wind speeds, as gen-
erated by Vortex based on NCEP reanalysis data and
downscaled using the Weather Research and Forecast-
ing model (WRF), providing up to 9km resolution for

OTHER DATASETS
ESA Land Cover 2009 Global Land Cover 2000

The European Space Agency’s (ESA) GlobeCover is a Produced by the European Commission’s Joint Re-
global land cover map that has been produced in an search Center. The Global Land Cover 2000 Project
automatic and global way, and is associated with a leg- (GLC 2000) provides for that year, a harmonised land
end defined and documented using the UN Land Cover cover database over the whole earth.
Classification System (LCCS).
More: http://bioval.jrc.ec.europa.eu/products/glc2000/
More: http://due.esrin.esa.int/globcover/ glc2000.php

Population Density 2012 Protected Areas 2012
The LandScan 2012 Global Population Database was de- The World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA) is the
veloped by Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) for most comprehensive spatial dataset on the world’s ma-
the United States Department of Defense (DoD). rine and terrestrial protected areas, produced through a
joint initiative of the International Union for the Conser-
More: http://web.ornl.gov/sci/landscan/ vation of Nature (IUCN) and the United National Envi-
ronment Programme (UNEP).
More: www.wdpa.org

OTHER DATASETS
AICD - Africa grid map 2008 Topography 2008

The Africa Infrastructure Country Diagnostic (AICD) in It provides terrain maps that show the elevation above
2008 produced a grid map. The database is hosted by sea level on the land, and depth of the ocean and sea
the African Development Bank. bed. Data is derived from (SRTM-30) Shuttle Radar To-
pography Mission version 2 © 2000-2006; SRTM Mis-
More: www.infrastructureafrica.org sion SRTM30 plus © 2008; J.J. Becker, D.T. Sandwell,
CleanTOPO2 © 2008; T. Patterson, post-processing and
cartography by GeoModel Solar Resolution: 00:00:30
Terrain maps.
More: www2.jpl.nasa.gov/srtm/

DIRECT ACCESS TO THEMATIC MAPS
The Global Atlas allows users to save maps under their Access:
personal profile. As of December 2013, more than 600 From the ‘Open map’ menu of the Global Atlas
maps are saved in the system. A number of maps were interface: http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/
published by IRENA for the purpose of illustrating spe-
cific datasets, or specific projects. New maps are cre- From the map gallery of the Global Atlas website:
ated on a regular basis. Contact: potentials@irena.org http://irena.org/globalatlas/Map-Gallery.aspx

Maps registry (1)
Map title Direct access link
Featured solar and wind maps http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=178
Wind resource maps of the Global Atlas http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=180
Swaziland map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=299
Somalia map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=301
Ethiopia map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=312
Uganda map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=315
Serbia map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=317
Mongolia map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=318
Sudan map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=321

Maps registry (2)
Papua New Guinea - wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=324
Zambia map - solar data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=338
Yemen map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=382
Full Merra dataset http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=399
United Arab Emirates - national solar atlas http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=401
Cuba map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=404
The Wind Atlas for South Africa (WASA) http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=405
Australia map - solar data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=406
Mali map - solar and wind data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=416
Wind maps 5 and 10km by CENER http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=422

Maps registry (3)
Secretariat of the Pacific Community Chuuk map solar data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=447
Tunisia map - SolarMed atlas and national wind atlas http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=488
Secretariat of the Pacific Community Pohnpei map solar data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=491
Secretariat of the Pacific Community Yap map solar data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=492
Secretariat of the Pacific Community Kosrae map solar data http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=493
Opportunity areas for grid connected and off grid wind

http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=507
and solar PV in ECOWAS
African maps from the European Commission Joint Re-

search Center

Maps registry (4)
Solar Map from HelioClim3v4-MC for 2005 http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=529
3TIER global wind and solar datasets http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=543
Kuwait solar measurement stations http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=585
Evolution of the Population Density between 2011

and 2012
Belgium offshore wind farms http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=603
Wind Atlas of Italy http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=617
Wind Atlas of Mexico http://irena.masdar.ac.ae/?map=619

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LATEST GLOBAL ATLAS PUBLICATIONS
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and decentralised PV applications
» » Insights from Interviews, a Survey, and a Workshop
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and Wind Energy » » Data quality for the Global Renewable Energy Atlas –
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Overview of

Solar and Wind Maps

Access the Global Atlas for Renewable Energy: http://irena.org/globalatlas

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 3

Australian Bureau of Meteorology National Aeronautics and Space

ECOWAS Center for Renewable NASA — global coverage 21

Institutos de Investigationes Electricas (IIE) Renewable Energy and Energy

4 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Solar Atlas for the Mediterranean 28 Protected Areas 2012 35

— Mediterranean region AICD — Africa grid map 2008 36

South Africa Wind Atlas (WASA) Topography 2008 36

Swaziland National Energy Policy Direct access to thematic maps

Development Project — Swaziland 30 Maps registry 38-41

United Nations Environment

University of Zimbabwe — Zimbabwe 32 Latest Global Atlas publications 44

Vortex — East Africa 33 Contacts 46

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 5

6 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Activate ‘i’ to access

Individual Click for map values

Solar Large icons indicate

Small icons indicate

8 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Geographic coverage: Global speeds were compared to observations from more

10 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Geographic coverage: Tunisia Wind maps are generated in GIS format at

Description: The project was financed by the Span-

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 11

Geographic coverage: Australia Meteorological Agency and the Australian National

12 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 13

Geographic coverage: Mali by a group of university departments, research insti-

14 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Geographic coverage: Mexico Extrapolation of wind speed at 80m was performed by

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 15

Joint Research Center (JRC)

Geographic coverage: Africa • Comparison between estimated PV and diesel mini-

• Modelled most economic rural electrification option Detailed description: http://publications.jrc.ec.europa.

16 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Geographic coverage: Kuwait

Description: Monthly average values for five measure-

Detailed description: N/A

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 17

18 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 19

National Aeronautics and

Geographic coverage: Global historical analyses of the hydrological cycle on a broad

20 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Geographic coverage: Global Detailed description: https://eosweb.larc.nasa.gov/sse/

Description: The Surface meteorology and Solar Energy

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 21

Description: The atmospheric conditions are modelled

22 GLOBAL ATLAS FOR RENEWABLE ENERGY

Website: www.mumm.ac.be/EN/Management/Sea- Definition of the concession zones

Description: The Global Atlas displays the bathymetry,

OVERVIEW OF SOLAR AND WIND MAPS 23

Renewable Energy and

Geographic coverage: Namibia

Description: Direct normal irradiation values. Annual