Free Global Energy Infrastructure Data Sources for GIS
Discover free GIS datasets for energy infrastructure including the Global Power Plant Database, oil and gas pipelines, global mines, solar atlas, and wind atlas.
Energy infrastructure data is essential for renewable energy planning, climate modeling, and supply chain analysis. Here are the best free global datasets.
Global Power Plant Database (WRI)
The Global Power Plant Database from WRI provides locations, capacities, fuel types, and ownership data for over 30,000 power plants worldwide.
- Coverage: Global
- Attributes: Capacity (MW), fuel type, ownership, commissioning year
- Best for: Energy infrastructure mapping and carbon emissions modeling
Oil & Gas Pipeline Routes
Global oil and gas pipeline data provides major crude, product, and natural gas transmission pipeline routes from EIA and Global Energy Monitor sources.
- Coverage: Global (major pipelines)
- Best for: Energy supply chain mapping
USGS Mineral Resources Data System
The USGS MRDS provides locations of thousands of mining operations worldwide with commodity, deposit type, and operational status — all free and public domain.
- Coverage: Global
- Best for: Mining infrastructure mapping
Global Solar Atlas
The Global Solar Atlas from the World Bank provides free 1km resolution solar resource maps including Direct Normal Irradiance (DNI), Global Horizontal Irradiance (GHI), and PV power potential.
- Coverage: Global
- Resolution: ~1km
- Best for: Solar farm siting and renewable energy planning
Global Wind Atlas
The Global Wind Atlas from DTU and the World Bank provides 250m-1km wind resource maps with speed, power density, and capacity factors at multiple hub heights (50-200m).
- Coverage: Global (onshore and offshore)
- Resolution: 250m and 1km
- Best for: Wind farm siting and wind resource assessment
Using Energy Data in Your GIS Workflow
- Start with the Global Power Plant Database for a quick overview of energy infrastructure.
- Use the Solar and Wind Atlases for renewable energy potential assessment.
- Combine with population and transportation data for site suitability analysis.
- Use GeoDataViewer Studio to overlay and analyze these layers — all processing is local.
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