Open Data Repository

Introduction

The open data repository serves as a central hub for accessing geospatial and energy-related datasets developed and maintained through a series of European projects, starting with Hotmaps and now continuing under the citiwatts initiative. Originally initiated by the Hotmaps project (hotmaps-project.eu), the open repository is hosted on GitLab and has provided a structured framework for storing, documenting, and sharing spatial data layers relevant to energy system planning at local and regional scales.

As part of the citiwatts project, the repository has been expanded with new data layers and an evolving pipeline that enables streamlined integration of additional datasets. Each dataset is released with comprehensive metadata, technical documentation, and a data descriptor, ensuring transparency, reproducibility, and interoperability. The project adheres to the FAIR data principles (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable), promoting responsible data management and long-term usability. Selected datasets produced within citiwatts are also archived and assigned persistent identifiers via Zenodo, ensuring durable access and citation. Some examples include Zenodo Record 13683085 and Zenodo Record 7876126.

In addition to the data layers, the calculation modules (CMs) developed during citiwatts are also preserved through Software Heritage, ensuring long-term availability and traceability. These modules are accompanied by their own metadata and documentation, allowing users to understand and replicate the methods used in energy planning workflows.

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Final remarks

How To Cite

OpenGIS4ET Team, in citiwatts Wiki, Heat Planning page in the Learning Center section (August/September 2025)

Authors And Reviewers

Alejandro Pena-Bello - HES-SO VS - alejandro.penabello@hevs.ch

License

Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons CC BY 4.0 International License.

SPDX-License-Identifier: CC-BY-4.0

License-Text: https://spdx.org/licenses/CC-BY-4.0.html

Acknowledgement

The authors would like to convey their deepest appreciation to the ERA-Net OpenGIS4ET Project financed, for the Swiss partners, by the Swiss Federal Office for Energy.

The project “Open Geographic Information System for Energy Transition” (OpenGIS4ET, Project Number 111 786) has been supported by partners of the ERA-Net Smart Energy Systems and Mission Innovation through the Joint Call 2020. As such, this project has received funding from the

Energy Technology Development and Demonstration (EUDP), Denmark (Project No.: 64021-6026),
Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Germany (Project No.: 03EI4050B),
The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (FFG), Austria (Project No.: 889031),
Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), Switzerland (Project No.: 502364).

The OpenGIS4ET project builts on the H2020 Hotmaps Project.

For more details please refer to the About page of this wiki.

Disclaimers

The content and views expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinion of the ERA-Net SES initiative. Any reference given does not necessarily imply the endorsement by ERA-Net SES.

The citiwatts toolbox is a living platform: As the research project as well as its sister and follow-up projects evolve, (new) functionalities are refined and bugs are addressed and solved. The toolbox is hosted in two environments: the development server and the production server. The development server has the most up-to-date version, with most of issues and bugs solved, but it might be unstable as developers keep working on it daily. The production server instead is a stable environment.

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