LEAP, a tool that has supported energy policymaking for 40 years, now enters a new era with a wave of updates that makes the software easier to use and more relevant to merging energy issues.

LEAP supports governments, researchers and energy utilities in more than 190 countries with integrated energy, climate mitigation and air pollution planning. It is an indispensable tool for many countries in developing greenhouse gas mitigation assessments, low emission development strategies and nationally determined contributions (NDCs) on climate change under the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change.

As countries face the deadline to submit their next set of Paris Agreement commitments to the UN in 2025, the new LEAP version makes it easier for countries to develop their NDCs, while also allowing them to build upon earlier analyses they may have created in the past. It can help countries examine the impacts of NDC implementation in more depth, fostering more credible analysis and a greater likelihood of buy-in from local stakeholders.

The new user interface and improved reporting features will also make it easier for users to communicate findings with stakeholders.

More than two years in the making, these updates are primarily driven by requests from the LEAP community – 68 000 users strong – but also address emerging concerns in the energy, climate and air pollution communities. The new version of LEAP caters to users working on ambitious low-emission and net zero planning, with easy-to-use full energy system optimization that illustrates the complex trade-offs among different scenarios.

Almost 1000 people attended webinars ahead of the launch, giving a sneak peek at the new features.

Upgrades include:

• Energy system optimization modelling: LEAP can now optimize an entire energy system as opposed to a single sector such as electric generation. This will allow modelling deep decarbonization and net zero pathways, enabling users to calculate the least-cost energy system configuration that meets certain pollution constraints. For the first time it also now supports detailed modelling of transmission networks, a feature a leading user says “promises to extend the frontier of the imagination”.
• The LEAP Cloud Database Server: A new easy-to-use system for connecting LEAP models to an internet-hosted database containing international open-source data on energy, emissions and development topics.
• Plugins: A new architecture that will make model development easier, more modular and more community-driven.
• Energy affordability: A new type of analysis that lets planners examine the affordability of proposed energy policies for marginalized communities – a key issue for those concerned with environmental justice.
• Accessibility: New translations into 14 different languages of the LEAP user interface make the tool more accessible for both users and stakeholders.
• User interface: LEAP’s user interface has been thoroughly modernized, making it easier to use and more professional-looking, while still being immediately recognizable to its many existing users.
• … and much more!

For more on LEAP, including community conversations and free tutorials, visit LEAP’s website, YouTube channel and its new LinkedIn group.