Building a Coordinated Network and Digital Infrastructure for Standardized and Interoperable Data on Renewable Energy Plants and Their Environmental Contexts
Coordination:
Team at UFZ:
Public grant authority:
Impuls- und Vernetzungsfonds
Funding code: ZT-I-PF-3-118
Project duration:
01.06.2026 – 31.05.2028
Short Description:
The rapid expansion of renewable energy requires reliable, transparent, and interoperable data on energy installations and their environmental contexts. Although relevant site and installation data are collected by numerous actors from research, public administration, and industry, these activities remain highly fragmented. Differences in data formats, standards, and processing workflows, as well as limited transparency regarding data provenance and updates, lead to duplicated efforts, inconsistent results, and inefficient use of resources. This impedes evidence-based decision-making in energy planning, environmental assessment, and policymaking.
REDataNet is funded by the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association and coordinated within the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC). The project addresses these challenges by establishing a coordinated network of relevant actors and developing a shared digital infrastructure for data on renewable energy installations in Germany. It brings together research institutions, public authorities, and other stakeholders to structure collaboration across the entire data processing chain—from data collection and preparation to enrichment, documentation, provision, and reuse. Through a moderated process, existing data sources, workflows, overlaps, and requirements are systematically assessed.
A key objective of the project is to develop a shared semantic metadata standard for renewable energy installations and their environmental attributes. Building on existing ontologies, the standard will ensure interoperability and support the FAIR data principles through transparent documentation of data provenance and processing. In this way, REDataNet addresses key objectives of HMC and applies them to renewable energy site data. At its technical core is a data platform integrated into the EE-Monitor, which connects data services and provides tools for automated data collection, validation, and collaborative enrichment. Through targeted networking and outreach activities, REDataNet promotes the sustainable use of the developed standards beyond the project’s duration.
REDataNet is funded by the Initiative and Networking Fund of the Helmholtz Association and coordinated within the Helmholtz Metadata Collaboration (HMC). The project addresses these challenges by establishing a coordinated network of relevant actors and developing a shared digital infrastructure for data on renewable energy installations in Germany. It brings together research institutions, public authorities, and other stakeholders to structure collaboration across the entire data processing chain—from data collection and preparation to enrichment, documentation, provision, and reuse. Through a moderated process, existing data sources, workflows, overlaps, and requirements are systematically assessed.
A key objective of the project is to develop a shared semantic metadata standard for renewable energy installations and their environmental attributes. Building on existing ontologies, the standard will ensure interoperability and support the FAIR data principles through transparent documentation of data provenance and processing. In this way, REDataNet addresses key objectives of HMC and applies them to renewable energy site data. At its technical core is a data platform integrated into the EE-Monitor, which connects data services and provides tools for automated data collection, validation, and collaborative enrichment. Through targeted networking and outreach activities, REDataNet promotes the sustainable use of the developed standards beyond the project’s duration.