The Role of Open-Source Software in the Energy Sector

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.