Advancing C3S Energy Services in support to Europe’s energy transition: co-development of the Pan-European Climate Database with ENTSO-E.

The Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S), which is fully funded by the European Union and implemented by the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECWMF), has traditionally provided authoritative information about the past, present, and future climate through datasets, tools, and applications. The service facilitates the development of adaptation and mitigation strategies for society in the face of climate change.

C3S has been consolidated as one of the most relevant providers of climate data and information both in Europe and globally. Its implementation has evolved contemporaneously with the evolution of the climate services arena. C3S has historically prioritized user requirements in shaping sectoral datasets and information delivered by the service. In recent years, however, it has taken additional measures to advance this commitment. These efforts include the development of customized climate datasets in partnership with core users. These users utilize and amplify the climate information supplied by C3S and disseminate it further through their own organizations and partners. This initiative involves prominent European institutions, such as the European Network of Transmission System Operators for Electricity (ENTSO-E), which plays an outstanding role in operating and securing the European electricity system and market integrations.

In the context of Europe's energy transition towards a more environmental-friendly electricity supply system, the power sector is increasingly vulnerable to weather and climate variability. This heightened exposure underscores the need for collaborative efforts among climate and energy experts to develop information at the European level. In this context, the present contribution aims to illustrate the process of co-development undertaken by C3S and ENTSO-E for the preparation of the latest Pan-European Climate Database (PECD) version, that encompass both climate and energy data, considering for the first time, future climate projections. PECD is a dataset that has underpinned most studies conducted by TSOs ever since and plays an important role for the resilience of energy systems and optimization of their performance in response to climate change. In this contribution we will delve into the TSO's needs, engagement, and co-development process up to the final PECDv4.2 dataset, which is readily available at the Copernicus Climate Data Store, as well as the evolution towards the new version. This co-development has combined both academic and grid operators' needs and resulted in a dataset that is fit for research and industry alike. The contribution will highlight the lessons learned in the process, the features accomplished, and the remaining gaps.